Researchers at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland have recently filed a patent for the new fuel process that they have developed over the last two years. The team has developed a process to produce biobutanol from the byproducts of whisky distilling. The university’s Biofuel Research Centre spent $405,000 for their research. Butanol is claimed to have 30 percent more energy than ethanol and can be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine.
Inspired from a century-old process created by Chaim Weizmann, who studied the butanol fermentation as part of a program to produce rubber synthetically, this new technology for developing biofuel from whisky could give the world greener way to travel. The Edinburgh Napier team’s process uses the two main byproducts of the whisky production process – pot ale, the liquid from the copper stills and draff, the spent grains.
Both these byproducts form the basis for producing the butanol that can then be used as fuel. The university also plans to create a spin-out company to take the new fuel to market. The fuel will be made available at petrol pumps, offering fuel that is greener and provided better efficiency.
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via: Edmunds