Discover the unexpected use of beer

British scientists have just succeeded in creating a sustainable fuel source by using beer as an important component.

According to researchers at Bristol University (UK), one of the most widely used stable petroleum alternatives worldwide is bio-ethanol. However, ethanol is not an ideal substitute for gasoline because of some problems such as lower energy density, water solubility and risk of engine corrosion.

Scientists aim to use beer as an important ingredient to create a stable fuel source.(Photo: BRISTOL UNIVERSITY).

A better alternative is butanol but difficult to produce from stable sources. To overcome this limitation, according to Press Trust of India, the group of scientists has spent several years developing the technology to convert ethanol available into butanol.

Duncan Wass, who led the study, said: "Alcohol in alcoholic drinks is actually ethanol - the molecule that we want to convert into butanol as a fuel substitute." According to Wass, if his group's technology is effective with alcoholic drinks, it shows that there is a lot of potential for making butanol to replace gasoline on an industrial scale.

The technology used to convert ethanol to butanol is called a catalyst . The study, published in the journal Catalysis Science & Technology, shows that the catalyst will convert ethanol in beer into butanol. Another advantage of this approach is that it is similar to many existing petrochemical processes. The next step is to expand the production process - a process that can take up to 5 years, even if everything goes smoothly.

What is beer?

Overall beer, is an alcoholic beverage produced by fermentation of suspended sugar in a liquid medium and it is not distilled after fermentation. The non-fermented sugar solution obtained from the soaking process is called beer brewing or "brewing water". Grain, usually barley is brewed into malt.

Alcoholic beverages made from sugar fermentation in non-grain sources - such as fruit juice or honey - are generally not called "beer", although they are also made from the same yeast-based biochemical reactions.

The brewing process is called brewing . Since the ingredients used for beer production vary from region to region, the characteristics of beer such as flavor and color also vary widely and therefore the concept of beer or other classifications .