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Saving the planet one beer at a time

14 June, 2015

Us Kiwis love a cold one, and we could soon be saving the planet every time we pop the top off a beer. DB Export have announced plans of an attempt at producing a commercially viable biofuel, based on the by-products of beer brewing.

By using ethanol — derived from beer production — and mixing it with regular petroleum, they hope to have their ‘Brewtroleum’ ready by July 2015. These biofuels emit less carbon than petrol when burnt, so it may not be long before we have a legitimate excuse to buy a box.

The brewing process leaves dregs of yeast slurry, which tests by DB Export and independent specialists have found can be stripped of ethanol. This can then be distilled and blended in a 10:90 ratio with 98 octane petrol to create an E10 (10-per-cent ethanol) biofuel.

“Brewtroleum presented the opportunity to take the natural by-product of the brewing process and turn it into something that can genuinely help the environment,” said Sean O’Donnell, DB Export’s Head of Domestic Marketing. “What’s more, men can help to save the world just by doing what they already love — drinking DB Export.”

The first sample of DB Export bioethanol will be ready for testing in a few weeks, and, if it is successful, Brewtroleum will be made available through one of the country’s major fuel retailers. We’ll be keeping an eye out for further news — we’re all for more reasons to feel good about drinking beer!

Bronze treasure unearthed

20 August, 2026

The car was put away in favour of something more practical, and when his father was unable to drive any more, Matt’s friend asked him to come and take a look at his dad’s old Holden. It turned out this was one of those phone calls that leads to that feeling of pure joy in the classic car world — the ‘barn find’ that turns out to be even better than expected. The HT Monaro had been put to bed some years before and had not seen the light of day since. Layers of dust and boxes of junk littered her undercarriage and bodywork and access points all around.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.