Bio Ethanol Fuel at ALDI.

[John Sheridan]

Just wondering what the *!@*&*@&*&@ is this and would it be better than Metho in terms fuel efficiency or not, or is it just the same as Metho, just a different name ???

http://aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_20295.htm

If so Might pick up more than a bottle of it, they might think me a terrorist, but ILL RISK IT

Thanks for any Info.

Cheers.

[Ent]

Methanol and ethanol are alcohol but the main reason for distinguishing between them is drink one you get drunk, drink the other you get blind and drunk. I am not aware of any magical difference apart from that very important fact. But please be aware, I understand that all non drinking alcohol is laced with enough of the bad stuff to cause serious damage to the optical nerve so please no mixing it with orange juice.

Bio probably steams from Biological which describes anything grown. If it is cheaper than Metho by all means run your stove on it. If it is dearer then I to will be interested in what makes it worth the price difference. Any science teachers out there?

Cheers

[Franco]

There are several ways to make ethanol.
Here, in Australia, the stuff that you buy in the supermarket is ,according to the Biofuel Association of Australia :
"In Australia, ethanol is made from waste products as sugar cane, the waste from starch production, and red sorghum, so that there is no conflict with food production."

http://www.biofuelsassociation.com.au/

In the US often people talk about Everclear, that is the drinking type (no additives) made from grains, however it does attract a lot of tax so it is very expensive.

We could also drink ours if it were 100% ethanol and not 95% plus under 1% of denaturant , the rest is methanol.

In Europe it is mostly made from petrochemicals, (ethylene hydration) so I suspect that Aldi had that in mind marketing theirs as "bio" but I don't know the make up of their product apart from that it cannot be 100% Ethanol at that price..

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol
BTW, I am not 100% sure how stuff like the Diggers is made, if it is from mineral or vegetable source...

Franco
(Ethanol and the green bit was discussed recently at Outdoor Magic)

Last edited by Franco on Sat 24 Dec, 2011 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Mark F]

I posted this on BPL yesterday

This is the MSDS details on whats in Diggers Metho

INGREDIENTS
Ethyl alcohol INGREDIENTS
Ethyl alcohol 95.8-99.8%
Water 4.2-0.2%
Denaturant <0.1%
Denaturants may be one or more of the following: Methyl isobutyl ketone, fluorescein, diethyl phthalate, tertiary butyl
alcohol, brucine sulphate or denatonium benzoate.

[Aushiker]

Hiking Jim has a bit of a discussion on ethanol here. Might be worth a read.

Andrew

[forest]

Just a heads up that this stuff is labelled as 100% bio ethanol.
The citronella bug stuff is 98% ethanol, 2% citronella.

I like it. The flame is good and a bit more visable than metho.

Most of all burn time is increased over metho.

In my caldera cone and fosters keg I can have a rolling boil with 500ml of water using 20ml of metho in 6:30, flames burn out @ about 7:10

Same set-up with the ALDI bio fuel gives me the same boil time but I get an extra 50 seconds until flame out.
That's an okay increase in fuel effeciency.

[Moondog55]

$9.99 a litre is double what I pay at Safeway tho

[John Sheridan]

I can get a litre of metho at the Reject shop for 3.50.

Cheers.

[Franco]

I don't see how the Aldi product can be 100% ethanol. If that were the case you could drink it.
If by "Bio Ethanol" a mix is implied, than it may not be better than the stuff you buy at the Reject shop.
Franco

[Strider]

I don't see how the Aldi product can be 100% ethanol. If that were the case you could drink it.
If by "Bio Ethanol" a mix is implied, than it may not be better than the stuff you buy at the Reject shop.
Franco

IMO Bioethanol would simply denote the source - i.e. non-synthetic.

[hikin_jim]

IMO Bioethanol would simply denote the source - i.e. non-synthetic.

That's generally the idea. "Bio" is a marketing word that appeals to "green" people. Maybe I'm being cynical, but at least where I live "green" and "bio" are more about making sales than about being environmentally responsible.

HJ