Neat! Scotland to make fuel from its whisky waste
EDINBURGH — Martin Tangney has a vision that combines romantic historical and cultural images of Scotland with a business of the future: He wants to turn the waste from making whisky into fuel.
“The beauty is its simplicity,” says Tangney, 47, founder of Celtic Renewables Ltd., an Edinburgh-based company that grew out of his research work as director of the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University. “Scotch whisky is synonymous with Scotland, like bagpipes and kilts.”
The professor and his team have developed the technology to produce biobutanol from the by-products of whisky. Tullibardine Ltd., an independent producer in Perthshire, signed an agreement last month with Celtic Renewables aimed at becoming the first distillery in the world to have its waste converted into advanced biofuel, capable of powering vehicles.
Whisky is the country’s biggest export and distillers are expanding production, defying the tough economic climate with sales to emerging markets. At the same time, Scotland is trying to turn itself into a renewable energy hub.
“The brand image of Scotch is absolutely enormous: It’s a global brand people can relate to,” Tangney says. “At the same time, Scotland has the highest self-imposed renewableenergy target in the world.”
Tullibardine can provide 6,500 metric tons of draff (what’s left of the grain after fermentation) and 2 million litres of pot ale (residue from the still), by-products that are currently spread on agricultural fields, turned into animal feed or discharged into the sea, all at cost.
The idea of converting a range of fuels found in plant materials to produce butanol goes back a century, and was scaled up to make acetone for explosives in the First World War. The technology died out in the 1960s because of competition from petrochemicals, he says.
The current projections are relatively modest. Celtic Renewables says there is a potential for a 60 million-pound ($97 million) a year industry. By contrast, the Scottish government is targeting 30 billion pounds of investment in the economy and as many as 40,000 jobs related to its renewable-energy plan.
“I looked at where I could add value on a smaller scale,” he says. “For me, it was the whisky industry. If we can get this right in Scotland, we can adapt it anywhere. India makes whisky, Japan makes whisky, Ireland. And Cognac uses a similar process. A lot of the waste ends up in the sea.”
Tangney says such a new source of fuel might be of particular interest in communities such as Islay, in the Inner Hebrides, where harsh weather conditions can make it difficult and expensive to obtain fuel.
Islay, off Scotland’s west coast, is home to more than half a dozen distilleries.