The next big biofuel could be made from whisky waste

A Scottish company is making auto fuel from whisky waste

(Image credit: Reuters/YouTube)

published 5 October 2015

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

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.