HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-07-23, Page 45Profiles
Phil Durand makes ethanol at his farm..
From page 24
making the ethanol. First the material
grain, corn, etc. I which is going to be used
is ound very tine so enzymes will be better
o attack the starch. Next the enzymes
a sed to convert the starch to sugar, and
then yeast is used to convert the sugar to
alcohol. The fermenting time is approx-
imatley 70 hours, he said.
-We work at it when we're not busy plan-
ting or harvesting," Mr. Durand said. -Our
production varies from year to year, but the
problem is the government won't let us sell
it."
In an ordinary still such as Mr. Durand's,
the purest brew they can make is 95 per cent
alcohol. "It reaches a point where water
won't separate anymore, and if it was mixed
with gas, it would cause problems in motors
because of the water," he said.
Therefore, two separate tanks are needed
to use the ethanol, one for the gas and one,
for the ethanol.
He said, however, that some of the larger
companies, such as the oil companies, have
methods of separating the rest of the water,
so the alcohol cap be mixed straight with
gas.
Following his research and work with
ethanol, Mr. Durand approached the
Department of Agriculture with the hope
they may start running workshops on
ethanol production.
The tables turned on him, however, and he
was asked by the department to give
seminars at Fanshawe and Centralia Col-
leges. They also persuaded him to speak at
an energy conference, and finally Fanshawe
asked him to teach a course on the process
and equipment used.
Mr. Durand is not alone in his wish to have
cleaner burning and cheaper gas.
•
-Brazil has pulled out all the stops, they
had no oil, so they were given the incen
tive," he said. "They are now making
billions of litres of ethanol a year, and last
year they cut their oil imports in half. They
saved $4 -billion.
The government in the United States has
. also become involved as they forced the oil
industry to cut down on lead by 91 per cent,
so production of ethanol was up in the
billions of litres last year.
Mr. Durand is saddened because Canada
has adapted slowly in this field compared to
Page 27A
Aside from making his own ethanol, Phil Durand is testing this duel. • Research sector.
fuel tractor for the federal government's Agricultural Energy
the U.S., but he feels this is because we were
not hit as hard by the shortages.
Canada is making progress, though.
"There are Canadian companies in third
world countries that have developed huge
alcohol plants and are using surplus
bananas and the like to make ethanol to sell
on the world market," Mr. Durand said.
He is assisting the federal government in
their research on the subject by testing a
duel fuel system tractor for the Agricultural
Energy Research Section of the government
which uses 50 per cent ethanol and 50 per
cent diesel fuel.
This is one area of ethanol research Mr.
Durand would like to study further. "We
have a surplus of alcohol, and I want to
learn more this year about using alcohol as
a fuel," he said. •
After completing a batch of ethanol a
government representative arrives at Mr.
Durand's farm to mix in a small percentage
of either gasoline or diesel fuel with his brew
so no one is tempted to try a drink of this po-
tent alcohol. Mr. Durand pointed out,
however, that no one would drink the
ethanol because copper pipes are not used
during fermentation, and therefore the
alcohol is considered poison.
�aS�Y
,6,7AJ%
ongratulations to
our frien s
and neighbours.
.in ane owns i .
lj A
1
People You Can Count On.
F,.
(Scruton/Edward Corp.)
CLINTON
....... 452-7381
Goderich ... 524-8386
411