Alternate Fuel

From beer waste at my favorite brewery. This is awesome!

E-Fuel said Tuesday it reached an agreement with the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. to create high-grade ethanol fuel from discarded beer yeast.

Los Gatos-based E-Fuel, the inventor of the world’s first home ethanol system -- the Efuel100 MicroFueler -- and Sierra Nevada have agreed to house MicroFuelers at the brewery in Chico, enabling Sierra Nevada to manufacture its own ethanol using waste from its brewing process.

Testing will begin in the second quarter with a goal of achieving full-scale ethanol production in the third quarter, E-Fuel said.

On average, Sierra Nevada resells 1.6 million gallons of unusable “bottom of the barrel” beer yeast waste to farmers each year. Containing 5 percent to 8 percent alcohol content, the waste includes enough yeast and nutrients to enable the MicroFueler to raise that level to 15 percent alcohol, allowing for an increased ethanol yield.

Change we can believe in.