Posted on 08/04/2006 10:12:55 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
TIFTON, Ga. - Part-time farmer Jimmy Griner hopes his ever-so-fragrant, crystal-clear, 180-proof moonshine can help solve the nation's energy problems.
Griner arrived at the Georgia Bioenergy Conference this week carrying of quart of the stuff in a Mason jar. He's licensed to make 10,000 gallons a year of the high-octane elixir that's distilled from fermented Georgia-grown wheat.
Sponsored by the University of Georgia, the three-day conference attracted about 500 farmers, scientists, engineers and politicians. Speakers from across the nation and at least one foreign country, Brazil, discussed the future of global energy supplies, the economics of biofuels, energy legislation and Georgia products that could be converted into fuels.
Gov. Sonny Perdue said promoting alternative fuels is "a significant step" toward important goals.
"First, we are ensuring long-term fuel stability, and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of oil," he said. "If we can grow our own fuel, why would we purchase it from dictators, or from countries who have pledged support for terrorist regimes?
"These initiatives add value to our farmers' crops," he added. "They will generate renewed interest and increased demand in agriculture."
Perdue said Georgia already has a few bioenergy companies that produced more than 3 million gallons of ethanol and biodiesel last year, most of it shipped out of state.
Plans are under way to build a $132 million plant in Camilla, about 175 miles south of Atlanta, that would produce 100 million gallons of ethanol a year from corn. Another company is considering a $150 million to $200 million plant in south Georgia that would make 50 million gallons of ethanol annually from the cellulose in wood.
Perdue said the state has supported alternative fuels by providing nearly $1 million to fund a biorefinery at the University of Georgia in Athens and research at Georgia Tech to convert pine cellulose to ethanol.
In addition, the state is working on a comprehensive energy strategy that should be completed by December, and Georgians will eventually have a "roadmap" of affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible energy sources, he said.
With almost 25 million of Georgia's 37 million acres covered with forests, there's a big push to produce ethanol from pine trees. But experts say the technology for doing it on a commercial scale is still years away.
The state already generates 18 million dry tons of waste wood each year, including limbs and tree tops, Georgia Forestry Commission director Ken Stewart said. The amount of ethanol available from the waste wood alone — 80 gallons per ton — would be enough to replace 18 percent of the gasoline and diesel fuels consumed in the state each year, he said.
After his speech, the governor toured an outdoor display of tractors and trucks powered by ethanol made from Georgia-grown peaches, wheat and pine trees and others powered by biodiesel made from chicken fat, peanuts, cotton seeds and soybeans.
Standing beside a large sedan powered by a blend of gasoline and his white lightning, Griner greeted the governor, unscrewed the lid and gave the governor a whiff.
"It's the real deal," Perdue said with a smile.
"I have a license to make it," said Griner, 70, a retired college physics professor who has a small farm in south Georgia's Berrien County.
"I'm going to tell the revenue department to leave you alone," Perdue said.
Jimmy Griner, a part-time farmer and retired college physics professor, holds up a jar of his 180-proof moonshine at the Georgia Bioenergy Conference in Tifton, Ga., Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006. The car to the left was powered by a blend of gasoline and his moonshine, made from fermented Georgia-grown wheat. Griner is licensed to make 10,000 gallons of the moonshine a year strictly for use as an alternative fuel. (AP Photo, Elliott Minor)
...LOL...well that's a smart way to legally make moonshine....
Finally, a fuel I won't complain about the cost of!
Another stupid AP title: since when do the folks in Georgia call wheat, "peaches"?
Is that Teddy Kennedy in his skinny days???????
I think it's Jimmy Carters brother Billy. LOL
Oh...of course...for fuel purposes only...and maybe a sip or two for testing purposes only.
How much taxpayers money will this take?? This ethanol stuff is not economical if it needs billions in subsidies.
Kinda off topic, isn't moonshine illegal not because it is an illegal drug; but becaus moonshine=untaxed/made secretly?
Since they started exporting golf balls in yellow wool sweaters instead of peaches...
Its been the better part of 20 years since I saw a peach (light fuzz, yellow flesh, clingstone). All we get are these little hard sour wool sweatered white fleshed freestone thingys. They never ripen, they just go mealy and rot.
A Georgia farmer with a few real peaches and a truck could make a mint up here.
Dont even get me started on the orange painted sawdust balls that Florida sends...
Good. Glad to see the market is helping the development of alternatives.
LOL! Nothing like a good rant on which to end the day! Good one!
G'nite, all...
How much fuel did he burn harvesting and distilling it?
I want that now!
It takes a while but if you look about 3/4 of the way down you'll find:
"After his speech, the governor toured an outdoor display of tractors and trucks powered by ethanol made from Georgia-grown peaches, wheat and pine trees and others powered by biodiesel made from chicken fat, peanuts, cotton seeds and soybeans."The only place in the entire article where peaches are mentioned.
Peachtree snappes is the best cough medicine I ever tried. Keep a jug in my fridge all the time. Tastes GOOD too, just like very ripe peaches!
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