Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1908 — ALCOHOL FROM SAWDUST. [ARTICLE]

ALCOHOL FROM SAWDUST.

Cannot be Distinguished From That Made of Grain. Samples of alcohol made from sawdust have been sent to the Department of Agriculture from one of the big saw mills where the work Is be*ng done on a commercial scale; that is to say, a distilling plant has been installed, which is turning out several barrels of alcohol daily, though nc figures are available as to the actual cost of manufacture compared with wood alcohol or that from grain. Tne interesting point about the- sawdust alcohol is that it is not a wood alcohol, having none of the properties ot that fluid, but is an ethyl alcohol that cannot be told from that made from grain. The nifference is that the sawdust alcohol is made after the sawdust has been treated with an acid, transforming it into dextrose, and is then distilled in the regular way. If the work can be done at a profit, and the indications from the work ot the company point to. this being a fact, it will not only make a valuable by-product out of the sawdust that has heretofore been an intolerable nuisance to the sawmills, but it will open up a way to make alcohol profitably from straw, cane, cornstalks and almost any other vegetable refuse.