British scientists turn beer into fuelDecember 7, 2017 - 13:08 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Chemists at the University of Bristol have made the first steps towards making sustainable petrol using beer as a key ingredient, EurekAlert says. It is commonly accepted that there is an urgent need for sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels for transportation to replace diesel and petrol. One of the most widely used sustainable alternatives to petrol world-wide is bioethanol - in the United States gasoline is typically sold as a blend with up to 10 percent ethanol. It is also know that ethanol is not an ideal replacement for petrol as it has issues such as lower energy density, it mixes too easily with water and can be fairly corrosive to engines. A much better fuel alternative is butanol but this is difficult to make from sustainable sources. Scientists from the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry have been working for several years to develop technology that will convert widely-available ethanol into butanol. This has already been demonstrated in laboratory conditions with pure, dry ethanol but, if this technology is to be scaled up, it needs to work with real ethanol fermentation broths. These contain a lot of water (about 90 percent) and other impurities, so the new technology has to be developed to tolerate that. Professor Duncan Wass, whose team led the research, said: "The alcohol in alcoholic drinks is actually ethanol - exactly the same molecule that we want to convert into butanol as a petrol replacement. "So alcoholic drinks are an ideal model for industrial ethanol fermentation broths - ethanol for fuel is essentially made using a brewing process. "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." Related links: Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. |