Is Whiskey The Fuel Of The Future?

I love a nice whisky in the evening. Couple of cubes of ice, a few fingers of whatever I’ve got that evening, and I’m good to go until sunrise.

I’ve never thought of whisky being used as a fuel, however. When I say whisky, I actually mean the waste product of whisky, which can be manufactured into biobutanol.

This biobutanol can be used on unmodified engines and, apparently, they run just as they would with petrol or diesel, just while producing lower levels of emissions.

Celtic Renewables is the Scottish company behind this idea. Professor Martin Tangney, the founder of the company says this.

“When Henry Ford mass produced the Model T, he designed it to run on bioethanol. Ford was a biofuel man. He had the idea of creating circular economy, something everyone talks about these days.”

If all goes according to plan, this chemical could be replacing thousands of litres of petrol and diesel over the next few years. I’m not going to bore you with the chemistry, but the majority of product from the manufacture of whisky is waste. Waste that at the moment is either dropped into the sea, or used to feed animals. Now it can feed your car.

So if you don’t fancy having an electric car and prefer to have an exhaust note instead of a whir, then this is certainly for you. No performance figures have been stated but it is said that this new fuel has a better energy content than ethanol.

If demands for this biobutanol increase, whisky production will increase. Surely it’s a win win?

Let me know what you think in the comments below!