Scottish Whiskey Can Help Safeguard the Environment

The threat of a potential energy crisis urges ever more businessmen and scientists to look into the possibility of boosting today's society dependence on renewable power sources.

Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that some of the solutions brought forth are rather innovative and sometimes even amusing to a certain extent.

More precisely, it seems that the whiskey industry is quite likely to help provide society with a renewable fuel source, meaning that the byproducts resulting when processing this alcoholic beverage can be used to make a butanol-based biofuel.

Apparently, this is precisely what one distillery in Scotland, Tullibardine, intends to do in the not so distant future.

Thus, this company has decided to team up with Celtic Renewables and make sure the sugary wastes resulting from its manufacturing whiskey do not simply go to waste.

Smart Planet informs us that, for the time being, Tullibardine needs to spend about ₤250,000 ($404,333 / €314,062) on a yearly basis in order to properly discard its whiskey byproducts.

On the other hand, going into the business of turning these sugary wastes into butanol-based biofuel could potentially bring forth significant financial benefits.

More so given the fact that, as of recently, the crops-based biofuel industry has been frowned upon by several farmers and even high officials, primarily because it uses the same resources the food industry needs in order to stay afloat.

However, the same source informs us that what Tullibardine first and foremost expects is to cut down on the amounts of waste its daily activities produce, and that the Scottish government also agreed to offer its financial support to this project.

This is because, as a result of this company's plans to turn whiskey byproducts into butanol-based biofuel, the Scottish government is one step closer to witnessing the success of its Zero Waste initiative.

More so given the fact that as much as 90% of what results from whiskey production is not whiskey, but byproducts such as pot ale and draff.

Professor Martin Tangney, the founder of Celtic renewables, explained how, “Our partnership with Tullibardine is an important step in the development of a business which combines two iconic Scottish industries- whiskey and renewables.”

Furthermore, “This project demonstrates that innovative use of existing technologies can utilize resources on our doorstep to benefit both the environment and the economy.”