Scottish researchers have developed what they call a “super” biofuel using by-products of whiskey production. Employing a method similar to a 100-year-old process that produces butanol and acetone through the fermentation of sugar, scientists at Edinburgh Napier University developed a process to convert the waste from the whiskey-making process — pot ale, which is the liquid from copper stills, and the spent grains known as draff — into a fuel that can be used in automobiles and is 30 percent more efficient than ethanol.
Given the enormity of Scotland’s £4 billion ($6 billion) whiskey industry, which produces 1,600 million liters of pot ale and 187,000 tons of draff annually, scientists say there is the potential for whiskey biofuel to emerge as a significant source of fuel for cars and even airplanes. “This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one Scotland’s biggest industries,” said Martin Tangney, director of the university’s Biofuel Research Centre.
