Meet the EFuel100 MicroFueler, which parent company E-Fuel says is the 'world's first home ethanol product'. It's a personal refinery system that hooks up to a water source, a power source and a waste water disposal outlet -- "just like a washing machine", as Floyd Butterfield, E-Fuel's vice president of biofuels and technology, described to reporters in a press conference on Thursday in New York.
MicroFueler owners load up the device with yeast and sugar 'feedstock', a variety of sugar not intended for human consumption. After fermentation and processing, the MicroFueler can hook up to a car and fill it just like a petrol pump.
The MicroFuelers can be pre-ordered now and will ship in the fourth quarter of 2008 if all goes as planned. It'll cost $9,995 (£4,500), but executives hinted that carbon tax credits on the US state and federal level may help subsidise the price.
Want one? You'll need a federal licence to produce alcohol, of which ethanol fuel is a form. But MicroFueler executives said that the government isn't picky about granting them, and the approval process takes a matter of weeks.
Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com
Thomas Quinn, CEO of E-Fuel, explains the MicroFueler at a New York press conference. It's safe, he said, because there is no combustion involved, unlike 'moonshining' devices that currently dominate the home ethanol market. And he was eager to distance it from criticism that ethanol demand is driving up food prices -- that's corn ethanol, he said, not sugar ethanol.
Quinn explained that the MicroFueler also accepts discarded alcohol, which means that technically you could dispose of that cheap tequila from Cinco de Mayo in a MicroFueler.
Fun fact: Quinn's last entrepreneurial endeavor was Gyration Inc, responsible for the patent behind Nintendo's Wiimote controller.
Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com
Two less impressive but key bits of E-Fuel paraphernalia: on top, a
package of EFuel100-branded sugar feedstock. E-Fuel executives said
that the company is working with sugar distributors to make it easy for
MicroFueler owners to purchase inexpensive fuel for their ethanol
plants.
Also shown: a carbon credit coupon. The price of EFuel100 feedstock is subsidised by government and corporate carbon offsets; this, according to execs, can bring the price of sugar fuel down significantly. Still, they emphasised, they don't think consumers should be concerned about rising food prices affecting the cost of sugar. Unlike wheat and rice, they insisted, sugar is in surplus.
Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com
The MicroFueler's display control, which does look surprisingly like a washing machine's. When asked, executives said that although the MicroFueler is currently powered by electricity, they are exploring solar energy as well as self-powering options.
Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com
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