We’ve heard of fish and chip oil powering cars and even raw sewerage, but we like the new idea of Scotch whiskey-based petrol a whole lot more.
It’s not strictly like taking a bottle of Johnny Walker and pouring it directly into the petrol tank of your car. Instead, researchers in Edinburgh have created the biofuel by using by-products from whisky distilling.
The “pot ale” taken from copper stills and used barley, corn, or wheat grain is processed into a fuel that creates butanol, a more powerful alcohol than the traditionally used ethanol. Normally, these by-products would be considered waste, but utilised in this fashion, they have the potential to change the world’s dependence on crude oil.
As brilliant as the idea is, we’re a little curious as to what happens when a member of the local constabulary decided to pull you over. “Have you been drinking?” they’d ask, with us saying “not me officer, but the car sure has.”
