Earlier this month, a Gull petrol station in Auckland, New Zealand, invited hundreds of customers to fuel up to mark the launch of a new fuel product, DB Export Brewtroleum, the world’s first commercially available biofuel made from the by-product of beer.
Following extensive testing and research, New Zealand beer brand DB Export is the first company to make beer-derived biofuel commercially available, and has produced an initial 30,000 litres of ethanol that has been mixed with premium petrol to make 300,000L of biofuel, which will be sold at 60 Gull petrol stations across New Zealand’s North Island.
Brewtroleum is made using ethanol derived after brewing DB Export, giving rise to the claim that “every time someone drinks DB Export they’re helping to create an environmentally-friendly biofuel”.
Brewtroleum can be used in most engines that run on petrol and emits 8% less carbon than traditional petroleum while delivering the same performance. According to DB Head of Domestic Beer Marketing, Sean O’Donnell, like many great Kiwi inventions, DB Export Brewtroleum was an idea sparked over a few beers.
“This is a genuinely exciting opportunity. It’s a world first, we’re helping Kiwis save the world by doing what they enjoy best – drinking beer. We saw the opportunity to take the natural by-product of the brewing process and turn it into something that can genuinely help the environment. To now be selling it through a major petrol retailer like Gull shows the power of not just having smart ideas but turning them into reality.”
“We’d love to see DB Export Brewtroleum become a long-term offering; it’s a case of testing consumer demand and assessing the feasibility of ongoing production and logistics. We expect the first batch to last approximately six weeks.”
David Bodger, General Manager of Gull New Zealand, says Gull was more than happy to help make DB Export’s idea a reality:
“We’ve been making biofuels since 2007 and are always keen to help out anyone interested in producing cleaner fuel. We applaud DB Export for showing a bit of Kiwi ingenuity – it just goes to show how many opportunities are out there to make viable biofuels and help the environment. We’re excited to help Kiwi motorists make a unique and environmentally-friendly choice via dedicated DB Export Brewtroleum pumps at our petrol stations.”
This article first appeared in Consumer and Impulse Retaling.