save the planet. drink scotch.

Interesting news from one of my very favorite places in the whole world: Drinking Scotch can help the environment. Yes, yes, yes - This is what I'm talking about.

Well, maybe not exactly. Turns out that two byproducts of the distilling process (pot ale and draff) can be used to produce a biofuel. And that biofuel can be used to power cars without even adapting the engines. Here's the description from the UK Guardian article, "Scottish scientists develop whisky biofuel":

The new method developed by the team produces butanol, which gives 30% more power output than the traditional biofuel ethanol. It is based on a 100-year-old process that was originally developed to produce butanol and acetone by fermenting sugar. The team has adapted this to use whiskey by-products as a starting point and has filed for a patent to cover the new method. It plans to create a spin-out company to commercialise the invention.

Don't get it? Me either. But who cares. This is sheer brilliance. And a great reminder of why I love the Scots so very much: Eventually they will find a way to incorporate whisky into every single aspect of daily life. Including driving to work in the morning. So, people, do  your part: Buy plenty of imported Scotch whisky to ensure these brilliant scientists have all the pot ale and draff they could possibly need in order to complete this important research.

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On a side note: I have long been confused about the correct spelling of "whiskey." I've always spelled it with an 'e', but I've seen it both ways. I finally decided to look it up, because it is very important to know these things. Here's the difference according to whiskydistilled.com:

You see, whisky (plural whiskies) shows that the product was made in either Scotland, Wales, Canada or Japan, whereas whiskey (plural whiskeys) shows that it was made in either Ireland or America.

So there you go. And feel free to speculate about why the spelling of this word is something that I've spent a lot of time thinking about.