Moonshine returns as ethanol gas additive

“If the temperature is too high then you are losing the alcohol. If it is too low you are not able to recover enough of that alcohol that is pure enough, that is fuel grade,” Franklin said.

“It really isn’t rocket science,” Franklin said. “He makes it to where it is much more automated. He does that with that mechanical temperature control valve. That is half the expense of the still. His still is much more automated and much more precise.”

Ethanol already is routinely added to gasoline in New York, Connecticut, California and the Midwest, and makes up about a third of the gas sold in the U.S., according to Kristin Brekke, a spokeswoman for the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based American Coalition of Ethanol.

Finding E85 gas is more of a problem. The 30 or so states with public E85 fueling stations are mostly in the corn belt.

Brekke said demand for ethanol is increasing, with about 4 billion gallons produced last year in the United States. With 97 plants producing and 34 under construction, output is expected to increase by about 1 billion gallons in 2006.

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil industry, is all for putting ethanol into gasoline but questions the wisdom of doing it yourself.

“Normally when people fill up with gasoline with ethanol in it, it is blended by professionals,” API spokesman Bill Bush said. “If we are talking about doing something other than that, by people who don’t normally blend their own gasoline, that raises safety considerations.”

McClanahan said no customers have reported accidents with the stills.

Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association that represents ethanol producers, has heard of Dogwood Energy.

CNBC VIDEO Ethanol moonshine May 12: Want to brew up your own ethanol? CNBC's Erin Burnett talks with Shelley McClanahan, spokeswoman for Dogwood Energy. CNBC

“You’ve got to appreciate Americans’ entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.

He hasn’t heard of anyone making homemade ethanol, though.

“The only ethanol I know being made at home is still the beverage,” Hartwig said.

Brekke also doesn’t know anyone using the still but she understands the motivation to buy one.

“People just want to do something to try and make the situation better as far as gas prices,” Brekke said.

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