While the prices at the pump are taking a downward spiral, we’re still trying to pull ourselves out of this economic crisis. People are looking for all sorts of ways to save. That’s why a Craven County, N.C., man is experimenting with something that looks at lot like white lightning and he just got a state permit to make it.
The same ingredients used to make moonshine will go into drums Rusty Woolard has in his back yard. He hopes to use what he makes here to power his yard equipment. Woolard is hoping to make ethanol, using the same ingredients moonshiners used to use in the Old South decades ago. Once he mixes in the sugar, milled corn and other ingredients, he pours it into a cooking tank at 160 degrees F.
“The steam starts forming off the product, goes through this unit, the sediment starts dropping residue. Steam keeps going and comes through this cooper [and] goes [through a] cooling system, “Rusty Woolard says. The product then comes out through a tube in liquid form. Before Woolard can use it as fuel for his lawn equipment, he has to work out some kinks. He is searching for a product that’ll blend well with his mixture.
“We’re in a crisis and ethanol is not the answer. It’s a help we need to tap into,” Woolard says.
Woolard plans to make 15 gallons of ethanol at one time. He also wants to educate kids and hopefully get them to research alternative fuels.
“We’ve got to learn how to produce fuel. We’ve got to learn how to tap into the wind. We have to learn how to do solar and get back to some of the basics," Woolard says.
The same basic methods Woolard spoke about, once used at one time to break the law, could end up legally fueling our future. Woolard got his state permit about a week ago. Once Woolard pours the mixture into the drums, it takes about 15 minutes to blend into the liquid form.