The Alcohol-Gasohol Fuel Solution

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The fact is that (especially since that 1974 crisis) some folks have actually been doing something about the fuel problem other than just talking about it. Folks like Albert Turner, who, together with his colleagues at the Southeast Farmer's Cooperative in Selma, Alabama, have succeeded in producing up to 90 gallons of grain alcohol per day from crop wastes, fuel which they mix with low-octane gasoline to make "gasohol" to power their pickups and tractors. On the other hand, people like aeronautical engineer Richard Blaser went beyond the gasohol concept and modified existing engines to run directly on straight alcohol, with striking results.

As it turned out, several of our researchers got a firsthand look at the results of these alcohol-as-fuel experiments, and were very impressed by what they saw. It all started when Richard Merritt, a federal lobbyist for the state of Nebraska and a member of the Nebraska Gasohol Committee, offered to set up a demonstration for Mother Earth News' somewhat skeptical crew.

Representing the gasohol folks was Bill Krass, a federally employed carpenter who — although he described himself as an "unofficial lobbyist" — showed just as much enthusiasm for the alcohol fuel as could be expected of any professional member of Washington's gasohol lobby.

Bill had two very significant things to show us: [1] the two-cylinder generator engine, that Richard Blaser — with assistance from the U.S. Naval Academy — had converted to use 100% ethyl alcohol fuel (this engine was dubbed the NAHBE, or Naval Academy Heat Balanced Cycle Engine), and [2] the "proof positive" that gasohol really works: Krass's Ford pickup, which he had just driven halfway across the country on a gasohol blend containing 15% alcohol.

The NAHBE engine started life as the powerplant for a standard military portable generator: it was an air-cooled four-cycle model that was rated at 10 horsepower, with a low compression ratio of 6.9:1. Normally, if it were to burn a variety of fuels efficiently, this engine would require a drastically increased compression ratio and a heavily modified fuel feed system.

But Blaser saw no practical use in those changes. Instead, he figured, why not develop an engine that could run on both regular gasoline and/or alcohol, and still have the reliability of a low-compression powerplant? With this goal in mind, he developed the NAHBE, and his modifications are within the capability of any reliable machine shop.

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