Researchers in Edinburgh are either trying to fight climate change and make the UK energy independent, or they're striving to give scotch drinkers a reason to tipple with altruistic abandon — or maybe a bit of both. The whisky you take home in a bottle is less than 10 percent of what distilleries put out, Prof. Martin Tangney tells Reuters. The rest is waste, and two of those byproducts, pot ale and barley, make great fuel. Tangney's company, Celtic Renewables, processes those byproducts into biobutanol, which the company says is like bioethanol only more powerful. Unlike the weaker bioethanol, biobutanol is almost as powerful as gasoline, Tangney says, and it can be used in gas engines with no modifications. The whisky fuel is being mass produced in Belgium and will soon be distilled in the UK, says Jim Drury, likely to be mixed with regular gas. For more information, watch the Reuters report below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Week contest: Flight fraudPuzzles and Quizzes
-
Is Trump sidelining Congress' war powers?Today's Big Question The Iran attack renews a long-running debate
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great officesFeature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
