The Scottish whisky industry could soon enter a new generation with the news that by-products from the distillation process can be used to make highly efficient
biofuel.
Pot ale - the liquid that runs off from the copper stills - and the spent grains used, called draff, can both be processed to produce a renewable source of butanol.
Discovered by scientists at Edinburgh Napier University, the
biofuel is 30 per cent more powerful than ethanol.
What's more, it can be used in petrol-powered cars without the need for the engine or fuel tank to be converted.
Professor Martin Tangney, director of the university's Biofuel Research Centre, says: "While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate biofuel, we are investigating excess materials such as whisky by-products to develop them."
Butanol was used as a fuel source in the early 1900s, the university notes, but was overtaken in popularity by cheaper petrochemical alternatives.
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