Scientists have produced a new biofuel made from whiskey that will not only utilise waste by-products from whiskey production but can also guarantee that 30 per cent more power can be provided than traditional ethanol fuels.
The new fuel, which can be placed into any car with no necessary adaptations, also boasts the advantage of being a highly-concentrated ethanol-based fuel. Researchers from Edinburgh Napier University are responsible for the development of the fuel and used by-products from whiskey distilling from Diageo’s Glenkinchie Distillery from East Lothian.
The two-year research project was funded by the Scottish Enterprise’s ‘Proof of Concept’ scheme, who provided £260,000 for the development of the fuel. The research team at Edinburgh Napier decided to utilise the £4bn whiskey industry as a means of fuel sources.
Whiskey is Scotland’s largest export and produces tones of waste each year from draff and pot ale. Using the by-products from the waste to produce biobutanol could prove an environmentally beneficial solution for Scotland’s waste industry. The University now has plans to spin-out with its own company to begin producing the fuel commercially in a move to begin making it available at petrol pumps.
Director of the Biofuel Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh Napier, Professor Martin Tangney said that the research being done was ground-breaking. He added that the EU recently declared biofuels will need to account for 10 per cent of all fuel sales by 2020.
He added that they would commit to developing new renewable energy sources to meet this goal. Additionally, he added that this latest biofuel mixture was environmentally sustainable and could potential become a large industry for Scotland.
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