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I like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by high rate of speed
Ethanol is the biggest waste of time. Right now it takes 2 gallons of oil to make 1 gallon of ethanol. It will be a thing of the past. Wind, Solar, true natural resources is the way to go. Research T. Boone Pickens, R.F.K. Jr.. If you/we were to be carbon free, you might have some of the best honey you will ever have.
And Im no tree huger. Im the A-hole that has a truck and s suv. But slowly trying to switch to green.
Bringing this out of retirement.........I am not a conspiracy theorist but can see a sever economic downturn coming if we don't do something quick. So Since I have antique tractors and equipment I have been thinking of a way to keep farming for food and barter and know my tractor can run on 100% ethanol. That being said making it out of corn involves mashing, straining then fermenting then distilling. Where if I used my honey I could just ferment then distill it for my ethanol. With that being said I would need around 100 gallons of fuel for what I want to do each year on my land. That would equal about 23 hives producing 60 lb each. that is a lot of good honey but in a real bad situation it would be doable. Yes it does not make economic sense now but in a bad time it would be an easy way to get the fuel you need to heat, light and cook as well as use for barter and, well, get drunk with......Every one will probably berate me for saying this but it makes sense to me in a tough situation to use what is on hand to make fuel and honey would be my first choice.
You know why it is E85. Other wise you could drink and drive on the same tank.:rolleyes:
The good old Irish Potato is likely a much better bet for convertible sugar and starch. On a ton per acre basis it may be better than corn and a heck of a lot easier than honey. My ancestors were kind of handy at it but they didnt have any tractors to put it in but they found a work around :) Curses of monoculture; that potato blight >1850AD sure changed their plans!
I do know that potatoes are more efficient in terms of total output. But that involves mashing and malting and other things to get the starches to sugar and then convert to alcohol. What I would like to do is if the shoot ever hit the fan and we needed to be self sufficient then honey would be a viable option for the making of ethanol. And of course honey is great for preserving food, medical purposes, cooking and a multiple of other things to barter with it. It has a good conversion factor when considered it takes over 220# of corn to get 5 gallons of ethanol where 60 pounds of honey will get me approximately the same amount. Just me doing some thinking of what I will do if things really get bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by crofter
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Honey Householder
that would be too much fun and you know us Americans can't be out there having fun when we need to earn money for the Govt.