A technology born from University of Louisville research uses spent distillers’ grains, corn and waste wood to create a low-calorie sugar substitute.

And it gets sweeter: the process also results in a bio-mass “coal” alternative that burns up to 20 times cleaner than the regular stuff.

Brian Walsh, the company’s CEO, said the potential environmental benefits of the technology are huge. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, burning traditional coal can cause emissions linked to smog, acid rain and other negative environmental and health side effects.

“There’s a better way to do it,” he said. “We don’t have to harm the earth. We don’t have to pollute.”

Dr. Jagannadh Satyavolu, theme leader for biomass and biofuels research at the UofL Conn Center, led this research effort and is the founder of BioProducts. Energy and value creation from waste products are his specialty. 

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