Scientists discover way to turn wastewater from the whisky industry into green fuel

In the UK, Daily Mail reported that researchers from Heriot-Watt University have discovered a technique to convert wastewater from distilleries into green hydrogen.

Sudhagar Pitchaimuthu, who led the study, said: “To help protect the planet, we need to reduce our use of fresh water and other natural resources.”

“It takes nine kilograms of water to produce every one kilogram of green hydrogen. Meanwhile, every one liter of malt whisky production creates about 10 liters of residue,” Pitchaimuthu said.

“So our research focused on how to use this distillery wastewater for green hydrogen production with a simple process that removes waste materials present in the water,” he added.

The report noted that electrolyzers typically only work with fresh water because substances in the water interfere with the process. However, the researchers developed a nanoscale material that allows electrolyzers to work with dirty wastewater.

The next steps for the researchers will be to develop their own electrolyzer prototype and to scale up production of the nanoparticles, the report added.

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