With gas prices on the rise, it’s pretty fair to wonder if there are alternatives to putting petrol in your car. Driving to school and work is getting pretty damn pricey, so it’s no surprise anyone would want something else to fuel up their ride.
Thanks to chemists at the University of Bristol, we may soon have that alternative fuel, and it won’t be something solely for your car. If we’re lucky, you can purchase this fuel at your local watering hole.
Researchers have spent years looking for alternatives to fossil fuels for transportation. Apparently all they needed to do was go the liquor store around the corner.
The alcohol in your brew is actually ethanol. This, according to Professor Duncan Wass of U.B.’s research team, is “exactly the same molecule that we want to convert into butanol as a petrol replacement.” He added that ethanol for fuel is basically made using the same brewing process that beer goes through.
Here’s more from Dr. Beerfuel:
“If our technology works with alcoholic drinks (especially beer which is the best model) then it shows it has the potential to be scaled up to make butanol as a petrol replacement on an industrial scale.
“But there are ways to obtain ethanol for fuel from fermentation that produce something that chemically is very much like beer — so beer is an excellent readily available model to test our technology.”
We may just have a civilization where cars are making their way down the highway while consuming beer, except your car doesn’t get drunk like the rest of us. Just imagine your vehicle is out of gas on your way to a Christmas party. All you have to do is get that six-pack you bought for the occasion, throw it in the tank and you’re on your way. The only drawback is the Christmas party was BYOB and now you’re shit out of luck. Oh well, cheers anyway!
h/t Science Daily
