Vic: I am somewhat sceptical about anything that comes out of government. First off, the primary purpose of government is to preserve the status quo, commonly referred to as "the system". This is done largely through legislation of a myriad of laws administered by a horrendous beurocracy, using permits and licences to control the development and operation of the marketplace. Somehow it all translates down to "big is better" and there is no place for the small entepreneur.
One of the areas where this cycle of "big is better" has been broken is somewhat related to ethanol production. That is the brewing industry. Craft breweries have sprung up all over North America. The average cost of a craft brewery is about $500,000. Some have been started on less than $100,000. Some have been built by innovative entepreneurs using adapted equipment aquired from small dairies. And why is there small dairy equipment available? There again, the dairy industry has been a victim of "Bigger is better". Abandoned small dairies dot the landscape wher I live. Historically, the city I live in had six breweries. "Economic viability" reduced that count down to one operating brewery over 50 years, more or less. "Economic viability" closed the last big brewery two years ago. Beer is trucked in from a bigger brewery 500 miles away, the same as the competing brands have done for many years. There would naturally be a loss of customers when the brewery closed, due to public reaction to job losses and company loyalty shattered. However, in the void left in the marketplace there has been start-ups of about a dozen small "craft" breweries. Strange thing is, that is precisely what this cities original six breweries were when they started. They all started small, suceeded, and grew. Some combined. I have not researched to see how many small breweries, if any, started up and failed, but assume there were probably a casualty or two along the way. I would pay no heed to government studies. You do not have to compete with Exxon, or Chevron. You just have to chose a small marketplace in which to supply a good product to your select clientel. But do a good job, and you will have to grow to meet the demand. Then the decision will be whether to operate several small plants, like the sucessful one you started and know how to run, or to go for a big plant. Small is beautiful in many ways. EdB ----- Original Message ----- From: vic gabriel To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 1:14 AM Subject: Re: [biofuel] other fuel sources from waste... plastics. Hi everyone. I'm writing from Los Angeles, CA. I read feasibility studies prepared by government agencies and some universities in US that say that smallest capacity ethanol plant to be economically feasible is 10 million to 15 million gallons/year. The cost of equipment and support buildings is about $US 90,000,000 to $ US 120,000,000. This cost is staggering. I wonder if anyone of the members of our group have encountered a more cost effective system that can process commercially. I thought it would be good to start with l million gallons /year with possibilities of expansion in the future. Can you please link me with some manufacturers. Used equipment is ok. I want to gain experience through using a 50 gallon steel drum and copper tower that I saw on the internet. Any suggestions? Thanks. Vic Gabriel __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Your own Online Store Selling our Overstock. http://us.click.yahoo.com/rZll0B/4ftFAA/46VHAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
