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posted by janrinok on Saturday July 11 2015, @08:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can-drink-and-drive dept.

Beer—is there anything it can't do?

You can chug it to improve the watchability of baseball, use it to de-ice roads, and now even power your car with it, thanks to the New Zealand biofuel "Brewtroleum." The ethanol used in the greener gas, which was dreamed up by DB Export, is derived from leftovers of the brewing process, chiefly grain and yeast.

The company calls it the "world's first commercially available biofuel" derived from beer, and an Internet search seems to confirm the boast. However, researchers have long dreamed of manufacturing a suds-based fuel. The stuff produces a lot fewer greenhouse gases than petroleum. And making ethanol with fermentation waste is reportedly better for the planet than relying on standard production methods, such as growing vast fields of corn.

This week, drivers in Auckland lined up at a gas station to fill their tanks with the brew juice, which DB Export claims emits 8 percent less carbon than gasoline. (Though the customers might have been environmentalists, the offer of a free $50 fill-up probably helped improve the turnout.) Stocks of "Brewtroleum" are expected to run out in about six weeks, though the company is toying with making more. Reports Stuff: "This is a genuinely exciting opportunity. It's a world-first, we're helping Kiwis save the world by doing what they enjoy best—drinking beer... If you were to fuel your car with biofuel over a year it would be over 250 tonnes of carbon emission you would be saving."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2015, @01:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2015, @01:23PM (#208131)

    Get plastered on a few six packs, piss in the gas tank. Boosts octane and cleans carbon deposits. True story.