Don't know if anyone else is as excited by the prospect of producing biofuels from the spent waste products of the Scottish Whisky industry but the above compamy have been working towards an industrial process for the last decade now. Apologies of this has been covered elsewhere.
The article below was shown on Good Morning Britain show yesterday morning. long before I was up.
Having invested in them during a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs a year or two ago I can't wait to try a gallon or two out in my motorbike just as soon as it becomes available!
The material isn't waste though, it is a by product of making whisky.
Since time began the by-products of whisky have been used as animal feed and, given that we are taking about millions of tons per year the removal of that product from use as an animal feed has an effect on the ability of the country to produce food. A number of distilleries have started using their by-products in on-site digesters to produce their own power which has already had a big impact on availability of distillery products.
In bits of Scotland this has already had quite an impact on cattle farmers.
Should we really be compromising food production to make fuel for vehicles?
(Traditionally the liquid left in stills gets reduced down to make pot ale syrup (a treacle like liquid feed), draff (the wet barley) is either feed fresh to cattle, preserved as silage or mixed with put ale syrup and dried to make 'dark grains'. Nothing is wasted)
I thought it was good enough as added cattle feed, used locally as part of a local distillers operation, a good enough loop.
With all the cold weather moisture E10 !? fuel I'm curious as to how this performs in a tank, also with the drive towards electric is it too late to be bringing this to market as ICE bows out, a sure fire market limited compared to the pre existing cattle feed market.
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Fair points guys and forgive me for missing out that at the end of their fermentation process the residues are turned into animal feed also.
While it's true FF's are being phased out and rightly so, ice vehicles will be around for decades yet and currently there is little hope of replacing long haul flights or shipping with an alternate fuel in the short term.
However, it's not for me to defend them, just pointing out options to the observations made.
Can't remember who first said it but "Where some see problems, others see opportunity". In a process which has such green credentials, developed here in the UK(Scotland actually) and with potential to assist in the removal of harmful emissions from our town centres and beyond then I believe they deserve all the support on offer from those similarly minded.
Of course I understand others may think differently and, if thought appropriate, would be happy to discuss any points raised.
It is always worth considering alternatives (and I say that as someone who has spent the last 20 years drilling for oil and gas) it's just that even the best, greenest solution will have a negative consequence somewhere.
It may be that the benefit of something like using distillery products for energy outweighs the cost, the important thing is we do consider the costs.
Every "green" initiative will have a side-effect somewhere. We should look at the overall benefit. I'm particularly nervous about any initiative that disrupts food production. For example giving up land used to grow food-crops to grow fuel or site solar panels is concerning.
We fundamentally need to stop burning stuff for energy. However, while road transport might be "solved" via BEVs, transcontinental transport of goods or people is a long way from being solved. "Boifuels" are a good solution for this application.
As a side note, I was disappointed to see the government yet again freezing fuel duty. FF are still fundamentally too cheap and this remaining the case will hinder the adoption of BEVs.
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Stinsy wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 12:54 pm
Every "green" initiative will have a side-effect somewhere. We should look at the overall benefit. I'm particularly nervous about any initiative that disrupts food production. For example giving up land used to grow food-crops to grow fuel or site solar panels is concerning.
Biofuels are just a passing phase, not much good in a EV and the siteing of solar panels have in many parts of the world shown to allow food crops underneith otherwise the temp is too high and too dry.
Its not that there is a shortage of land for food but most of it is uneconomic and there is plenty of low grade /useless land for PV
_
I believe that the production of green hydrogen should be left to those countries with vast land area, vast wind and solar eg Australia. Why the UK is getting involved in H2 is beyond me except for FF lobbying.
Accept I do not believe it to be the case. Alongside fuel for cars, are many other products currently produced by the Petro chemical industry, Pharmaceuticals, Medical, Plastics, paints/coatings & cleaning biofuels that will require an alternative method of sourcing to ensure it's lifetime for decades to come.
Totally agree with you though about the UK being involved with Hydrogen as it seems little more than an exercise promoted by the FF industry to continue justifying it's existence.
