New Zealand brewing company, DB Export has had its brewtroleum, or biofuel produced from beer waste picked up and stocked by Gull New Zealand.
BIOFUEL ISN’T NEW. But a New Zealand brewer, DB Export, has hit on the idea of using yeast slurry from the beer making process to produce ethanol and then mix it with petrol to produce E10 (DB Export says it has a 98RON rating). The idea was made public in June with many critics in New Zealand calling it a publicity stunt.
But, last week, DB Export announced its ‘brewtroleum’ would be available at a select number of Gull New Zealand petrol stations for a limited time, so, obviously not a stunt then. DB Export’s head of domestic beer marketing, Sean O’Donnell, said the brainwave was generated “over a few beers”.
In the past, DB Export said, the yeast slurry it now uses to produce bio-ethanol was distributed to local farmers for stock feed. The company has released a marketing campaign that has copped some flack for encouraging ‘men’ to drink more beer and save the planet. We can see both points.
Still, with fossil fuels drying up, and brewers operating in just about every country on the planet there might be a chance to stretch out what fuel reserves we have left with the leftovers from the brewing process. Sounds like a good idea to us.
What do you think about producing bio-fuel from beer production waste, is it a good idea?
