Sean Isles is an entrepreneur in Vancouver and he sent the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project information about his new project working with ethanol. Ethanol fuel can be made from anything that has sugar in it, like fruit that is so far past its prime that no one wants to eat it or cook with it. He writes, “Ethanol is a good replacement for gasoline as fuel for cars. It is carbon-neutral because the carbon that enters the atmosphere from the car’s exhaust has been taken out of the atmosphere during the prior growing season when the plant used it in photosynthesis.
It can be produced locally, unlike gasoline – have you ever heard of a back-yard oil refinery?”
Sean wants to see whether it’s feasible to make fuel alcohol on a community scale. One of the requirements is a supply of feedstock, like waste fruit. He’s hoping to partner with the Vancouver Tree Fruit Project Society to turn waste fruit into fuel and will keep VFTP informed about the performance of the fuel in small engines. As locally-made fuel proves itself, he’ll invite members of the community to test the fuel in real-world driving conditions, then use the momentum generated to build a larger plant that can turn waste into fuel for everyone. Continue reading
