Fosters Brewery in Australia announced yesterday that they are entering into a partnership with the University of Queensland to develop a microbial fuel cell powered entirely by beer waste. The process will ’digest’ the beer and convert it into clean water and electricity generating 2 kw of power — or enough energy to light up one household! To accomplish this, Fosters estimates that it will need a fuel cell capable of storing 660 gallons of beer. This is more than 250 times the size of the current prototype at the University, so one can expect a little more tinkering will be involved before this is installed. Once complete, Fosters hopes to roll out the fuel cells to wineries and breweries it owns throughout Australia.

Rad

The Australian government is also getting into the game by giving the effort a $115,000 grant. As Professor Jurg Keller, Director of AWMC stated, "Energy and water supply are among the biggest challenges we will face in the coming decades. Therefore, we must learn how to diversify our portfolio of fuels and we must learn to reduce our energy and water usage." Which makes fuel cells all the more desirable, essentially they are waste water treatment plants that also give off electricity. What’s not to like?

We’ll keep an eye on our partners to the South for more updates on using beer to improve our quality of life. Now excuse me while I go grab a cold one and contemplate the possibilities.

Michael dEstries