Imagine a system for cleaning alcohol from the exhaust gas of engines or industrial machinery, which is based on yeast. Suntory, a Japanese company based in Osaka that is better known for producing whisky, is patenting a system whereby the exhaust pipe is connected to a filter containing cultures of three yeast varieties. The microbes feed on any alcohol present in the exhaust, cleaning it from the gases as they pass through. The company claims that not only do the microbes work for a long period of time but they are also effective when the exhaust gas has high ethanol concentration.