GreenHouse: Fueling for the Future

By Steve Galluzzo, Sports Editor

2009-08-13
The days of waiting in line at the gas pump to fill your tank may soon be over, thanks to a revolutionary new machine called the E-Fuel MicroFueler, an at-home micro-refinery system that turns organic waste into a high-performance ethanol fuel for cars.

  Fittingly, the first public installation, on the evening of July 30, was not at a laboratory or corporate office building, but right in the driveway of Chris Ursitti's house in Pacific Palisades, for he believes that the E-Fuel MicroFueler will eventually be stored in yards and garages across the country.

  'This is our cell tower for getting the word out' this is ground zero,' said Ursitti, CEO of GreenHouse, the San Diego-based energy company that is the exclusive distributor of the MicroFueler in California and Arizona. 'With the launch of the first operational MicroFueler in Los Angeles, we're making consumer use an option for people who want to gain control over vehicle fuel costs and take active steps towards improving the environment.'

  A model for sustainable energy, the MicroFueler produces E-Fuel 100 ethanol using carbohydrate waste products from plentiful sources like spent beer yeast, algae and cellulose (rather than from corn or similar food-based products)'and for about two-thirds ($2 per gallon) the cost of gasoline.

  Using patented semiconductor technology, the refrigerator-sized unit produces ethanol from a liquid feedstock and pumps it into your car right at your residence. The GreenHouse team delivers the raw materials and maintains your home-based unit as part of its service package. Each MicroFueler requires three kilowatts of electricity to produce one gallon of E-Fuel 100 (which can be made in minutes), which in turn will generate up to 23 kilowatts of power.

  At their installation party, Ursitti and E-Fuel Corporation CEO Tom Quinn conducted an experiment on the 'green carpet,' burning the clear liquid ethanol in a bowl, even passing around a bag of marshmallows and encouraging everyone to roast them. The ethanol produced no smoke and no offensive odor.

  'I was in high school in the 1970s when the microwave was invented and it became a fabric of our lives,' Ursitti said. 'This is the same kind of technology. We made ethanol right here on my property. This enables us to have our own fuel at our disposal, whenever we need it'and to make it ourselves. Not only that but we're reducing our waste in the process. It's a win-win situation.'

  Quinn demonstrated how the unit operates to about 150 invited guests and investors, including actors Frances Fisher ('Titanic'),

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Corey Feldman ('Stand by Me'), Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt ('The Hills'), retired San Diego Chargers running back Chuck Muncie and Hollywood producers Marshall Herskovitz ('Defiance') and Jon Sheinberg ('Flipper').

He also dispelled the myth that cars can't run on pure ethanol. On the contrary, Quinn said, they can run more efficiently.

'Ethanol is a cooler-burning fuel. That's why it is used in Formula One and Indy cars, or else they'd damage their engines,' Quinn said. 'Ethanol also burns much cleaner, is better for the environment, is safe to produce and pump at home and replaces all grades of gasoline. Its only by-product is distilled water.'

Another benefit is that ethanol can be mixed with gasoline. 'We know oil and water don't mix,' Quinn said, 'but ethanol and water do mix. In response to the energy crisis, a law was passed requiring that all vehicles be ethanol-compatible, so any car manufactured after 1991 is capable of running on 100 percent ethanol if it is equipped with a proper conversion kit,' Quinn continued. 'In fact, gas you buy at the station has a small percentage of ethanol in it already. Additionally, high-performance cars will actually get better gas mileage with ethanol, so don't go selling your Ferrari!'

Ursitti has lived in the Palisades for the last three years with his wife, Kari, and their children: Amanda (10), Layla (7) and Leo (2). After earning his degree in Theater and Production Design from Westminster College in Missouri, he went on to work at major movie studios in Hollywood, gaining experience in producing, directing and production design. Ursitti joined The Hollywood Location Company in 1992 and, seven years later, built Los Angeles Center Studios'ironically, at the former Unocal World Headquarters just west of downtown.

In 2006 Ursitti founded Na Pali Coast Development, a construction development company building custom estate homes in the Palisades. His concern for the environment, however, has influenced everything he has designed and built, so when he became a GreenHouse managing partner last year he was committed to the MicroFueler.

'GreenHouse had been engaged in changing the carbon footprint of homes for many years so, given my background, this was a natural fit,' said Ursitti, who is Sheinberg's brother-in-law. 'I actually met Tom (Quinn) through Jon, who is the California promoter for E-Fuel 100.'

Looking for a viable alternative to fossil fuels, Quinn, who is from Silicon Valley, collaborated with leading ethanol scientist Floyd Butterfield of Paso Robles, and over the next three years they developed the MicroFueler'which they anticipate will help lessen America's dependency on foreign oil and help reverse a disturbing trend: that 50 percent of what we grow we throw away.

'Did you know that one garbage company throws away more than 3,000 tons of waste a day?' Quinn asked. 'By using this we're actually reducing our waste. What's great is that ethanol is the best fuel on the planet to generate energy. Why not put all of that garbage to good use?'

Basketball superstar and GreenHouse investor Shaquille O'Neal couldn't make the July 30 introduction but he did attend an encore demonstration last Thursday afternoon, also at Ursitti's house on Bestor. (See story, page 6.)

'I think Shaq is here because he cares,' Ursitti said. 'He cares about our environment and our future. Sure, he's got all the money he could ever want, but he's taking the lead to ensure that his children'all of our children'will live safer, cleaner lives and be more environmentally responsible.'

Founded in 2007, the E-Fuel Corporation, based in Los Gatos, employs many of the top ethanol researchers in the United States. Each MicroFueler unit will retail for $10,000, but there is a federal tax rebate of $5,000 and some states (California is currently not one of them) offer additional rebates.

Each MicroFueler unit comes with a storage tank that holds up to 50 gallons of fuel. When the unit approaches empty, it automatically sends a signal to the distributor, who then comes to the location and pours GreenHouse feedstock into the MicroFueler, which then distills the waste into ethanol.

Yet another benefit is that units can be accessed by any number of people. 'Next-door neighbors can share a unit,' Ursitti said. 'Heck, you can have a whole block using one unit. All each customer has to do is punch in an individual combination on the keypad. And it's not like you're stealing from someone else's supply'what's there is accessible to everyone assigned to that specific unit.'

GreenHouse plans to begin commercial distribution in Southern California by late October. Ursitti said seven units are going out this month, 12 more are on the way and an additional 50 are in production in Paso Robles to accommodate the first wave of pre-sale orders. Ursitti anticipates the need for thousands upon thousands more as word gets out.

'Oil companies will want to fight it and make it take as long as possible to hit mainstream America,' Quinn predicted. 'It will have a huge impact in terms of the transfer of wealth, but fortunately it's more likely to become a household thing now with the Internet.'

Attending the July 30 installation was Palisadian Bernd Zimmermann, a health and fitness expert who helped popularize Nordic Walking in the United States. Now, his mission is to convince European countries to give the E-Fuel MicroFueler a try.

'We're having a demo like this in Vienna in mid-September and I'm sure it's going to catch on over there just like it will here,' said Zimmermann, a native of Munich who asked one of his business partners, Christian Steinbach, to fly overseas for the unveiling of the final production model at the state capitol in Sacramento on June 4. 'This is such an exciting thing. Once we get it out to the public and people see how easy it is, this idea will definitely fly.'

Quinn also announced that a second product is in the works called The GridBuster, an electric generator run on 50 percent water/50 percent ethanol capable of producing enough energy to light, cool, heat and power an entire house. E-Fuel's first priority, however, is selling America on the ecological and economic benefits of the MicroFueler.

'History is being made here in Pacific Palisades,' Ursitti claimed. 'This is a marathon, not a sprint. We'll change things one house, one community at a time. Tom and these guys are like the mother ship. Now it's about how well we deliver the message. This machine and what it can do is the proof of a concept that will work and will make us more self-sufficient.'

To make a pre-sale order of the MicroFueler, call (858) 273-2626 or visit the GreenHouse Web site at www.greenhouseintl.com.