Scottish Scientists Develop Whisky Biofuel

 
Source: FT. By Andrew Bolger, Scotland Correspondent
Published: August 17 2010 16:02

A biofuel made from whisky by-products, which can be used in ordinary cars, has been developed by scientists at Edinburgh Napier University. The team focused on the £4bn ($6.2bn, ?4.8bn) whisky industry as a resource for developing biobutanol - the next generation of biofuel which they estimate gives 30 per cent more output power than ethanol.

They were provided with samples of whisky distilling by-products from Diageo's Glenkinchie Distillery in East Lothian, which makes The Edinburgh Malt. The £260,000 research project was funded by Scottish Enterprise, the government-backed development body.

It uses the two main by-products of whisky production - pot ale, the liquid from the copper stills, and draff, the spent grains, as the basis for producing the butanol that can then be used as fuel.

The scientists at the university's biofuel research centre have filed for a patent and intend to create a spin-out company to take the new fuel to market.

With 1.6bn litres of pot ale and 187,000 tonnes of draff produced by the malt whisky industry annually, the scientists believe there is real potential for biofuel to be available at local garage forecourts alongside traditional fuels.

Unlike ethanol, the nature of the innovative biofuel means that ordinary cars could use the more powerful fuel, instead of traditional petrol, without modification. The product can also be used to make other green renewable biochemicals, such as acetone.

The university now plans to create a spin-out company to take the new fuel to market and leverage the commercial opportunity, in the bid to make it available at petrol pumps.

Professor Martin Tangney, director of Edinburgh Napier's Biofuel Research Centre, said the European Union had declared that biofuels should account for 10 per cent of total fuel sales by 2020.

"While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate biofuel, we are investigating excess materials such as whisky by-products to develop them," he said. "

"This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one of Scotland's biggest industries. We've worked with some of the country's leading whisky producers to develop the process."

Jim Mather, minister for enterprise, energy and tourism, said this innovative use of waste products demonstrated a new sustainable option for the biofuel industry, while also supporting the economic and environmental objectives of the Scottish government.

"In these challenging economic times we need to play to our strengths and take advantage of the low carbon opportunities of the future," he said. " It's exactly this type of innovation that will help sustain economic recovery and deliver future sustainable economic growth."