Cars to run on whisky and beer by-products

Researchers at the University of Abertay in Dundee will study how to turn whisky and beer residues into bioethanol, which is carbon neutral, and produces two-thirds fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels.

The one-year project is being led by Professor Graeme Walker, who said: "Our research will be looking at the far more complicated process of turning waste products from industry into bioethanol as an example of a second-generation biofuel.

"These products are currently disposed of or processed for animal feed and turning them into fuel would be an attractive use of the resource.

"At the moment, many technical challenges remain to converting waste biomass into fuel. We will focus on finding more efficient and cost-effective processes."