Spin out
Edinburgh Napier University has filed a patent on a new biofuel made from by-products of distilling whisky, and is now planning to spin out a company to commercialise the technology.
The process was developed over the last two years at Napier’s Biofuel Research Centre with backing of £260,000 from Scottish Enterprise’s Proof of Concept Fund. As part of its research, the centre was provided with samples of whisky distilling by-products from the Glenkinchie Distillery, which is owned by the drinks multinational Diageo.
The end result is a biobutanol which gives 30 per cent more output power than ethanol. The researchers say it can be used in existing cars without the need for any modification.
The fuel is made from the two main by-products of the whisky production process, pot ale, which is the liquid from the copper stills, and draff, or the spent grains. In total Scotland’s £4 billion turnover whisky industry generates 1,600 million litres of pot ale and 187,000 tonnes of draff every year.
The director of the Biofuel Research Centre, Martin Tangney, said, “While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate biofuel, 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.”
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