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Whiskey’s noblesse: super bio-fuel (butanol) from distilleries by products

“Fill her up with whiskey pot ale”

Topping up at the petrol pump is about to take an intriguing twist as cars are set to be fuelled with a new super bio-fuel, made from whisky by-products. Edinburgh Napier University has filed a patent for the new bio-fuel, which can be used in ordinary cars, without any special adaptations needed.

The innovative fuel process has been developed over the last two years by Edinburgh Napier’s Bio-fuel Research Centre. As part of their research the centre was provided with samples of whisky distilling by-products from Diageo’s Glenkinchie Distillery.

The £260,000 research project was funded by Scottish Enterprise’s ‘Proof of Concept’ programme.

The Edinburgh Napier Bio-fuel research team focused on the £4 billion whisky industry as a ripe resource for developing bio-butanol – the next generation of bio-fuel which gives 30% more output power than ethanol. It uses the two main by-products of the whisky production process – ‘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.

With 1,600 million litres of pot ale and 187,000 tonnes of draff produced by the malt whisky industry annually, there is real potential for bio-fuel to be available at local garage forecourts alongside traditional fuels. Unlike ethanol, the nature of the innovative bio-fuel means that ordinary cars could use the more powerful-fuel, instead of traditional petrol. The product can also be used to make other green renewable bio-chemicals, 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.

Director of the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University, Professor Martin Tangney is leading the ground-breaking research.

“The EU has declared that bio-fuels should account for 10% of total fuel sales by 2020.

We’re committed to finding new, innovative renewable energy sources”, he said.

“While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate bio-fuel, we are investigating excess materials such as whisky by-products to develop them. This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one Scotland’s biggest industries. We’ve worked with some of the country’s leading whisky producers to develop the process.”

Scottish Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism Jim Mather said: “This is an innovative development, and I am delighted to see Edinburgh Napier University once again display its expertise in this field by bringing this bio-fuel to market”.

He added he supports the development and use of sustainable bio-fuels. “This innovative use of waste products demonstrates a new sustainable option for the bio-fuel industry, while also supporting the economic and environmental objectives of the Scottish Government's new Zero Waste Plan”.

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

Susan Morrison, Director and General Manager at The Scotch Whisky Experience said: “Working in a tourism role to represent the Whisky Industry we are delighted that the green agenda is moving forward at such a pace, both through the Green Tourism Scheme and innovations such as this new whisky bio-fuel.”

Commenting on the Napier University plans to power cars using a new super bio-fuel, made from whisky by-products, WWF Scotland's Director, Dr Richard Dixon, said:
“Scotch whisky is world renowned and one of Scotland's biggest exports, so it is great to see plans that could not only help power the cars on our roads and reduce fossil-fuel emissions but also help reduce the environmental impacts of the industry itself. The production of some bio-fuels can cause massive environmental damage to forests and wildlife. So, whisky powered-cars could help Scotland avoid having to use those forest-trashing bio-fuels.

”Last year the whisky industry published plans to help lower its impacts and it is clear that this scheme could assist them in doing just that. Since the whisky industry relies on Scotland's clean environment for its main ingredients it would be great if the industry could help Scotland reduce its emissions from road transport.”

The technology for developing bio-fuel from whisky was inspired from a 100 year old process, created Chaim Weizmann*, a Jewish refugee chemist in Manchester who studied the butanol fermentation initially as part of a programme to produce rubber synthetically. The process was then used in explosives manufacture and helped win both WWI and WWII.

(*) Chaim Weizmann was instrumental in establishing the state of Israel and went on to become the first President.