Jul. 7--Two inventors who view ethanol as a potential solution to unstable oil prices are beginning to produce ethanol distillers in Paso Robles for home or business use and are lining up dealers and companies to buy them.

Their goal is to put fuel production in the hands of individuals in the same way that Apple Inc. moved computing into consumers' homes, said co-founder and chief executive officer Thomas Quinn.

The E-Fuel 100 MicroFuelers, which are in preproduction, will sell for $9,995 and produce ethanol fuel distilled from sugars, including waste such as overripe or damaged fruit, leftover alcohol or wine grape skins.

Initial buyers include a tequila producer and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, which plans to make fuel from its beer waste.

Company officials believe that by year-end, the company's Paso Robles plant on Dry Creek Road will employ 50 to 100 people to assemble and distribute the MicroFuelers. That's up from the four who are testing prototypes and early models. So far, about $7 million has been invested in the company, according to one co-founder.

But it's too difficult to predict whether the MicroFueler will succeed, two industry observers say.

Kris Bevill, editor of Ethanol Producer Magazine, a trade publication in Grand Forks, N.D., said it's an idea that hasn't been tried before.

"They've tapped into a niche that hasn't been filled yet," she said, adding that at $10,000 a pump, MicroFuelers will probably be viewed as a personal luxury or business expense.

"If they market to small and mid-size companies, they might have something there," she said.

E-Fuel Corp., based in Los Gatos, was begun in 2007 by Quinn and North County resident Floyd Butterfield, a geophysicist and farmer.

A 30-year Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Quinn's last start-up company, Gyration Inc., patented the technology used in the Nintendo Wii video game system's controller. Others he's headed include Samsung Information Systems America and Novell Inc.

After selling Gyration in 2004, Quinn became interested in ethanol as a possible solution to unstable oil prices and sought a top-notch ethanol scientist, which led him to Butterfield. "I was surprised and excited that he was in Paso Robles, only a few hours away."

A geophysicist and 1972 graduate of Paso Robles High School, Butterfield was producing ethanol in the city in 1981. He won a contest sponsored by the California Department of Food and Agriculture for the best design of an ethanol still. But he couldn't make it profitable.