Members of the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University have launched a company to commercialise a process for producing biofuel made from whisky by-products. Celtic Renewables Ltd, will initially focus on Scotland’s £4 billion malt whisky industry to develop bio-butanol – a next generation biofuel – and other renewable chemicals. Researchers behind the process say it has “huge global potential” to be adapted to other biological by-products.

Unlike other biofuels, biobutanol – which is now being developed globally – can be used as a direct replacement for petrol, or as a blend, without the need for engine modification. Celtic Renewables, Scotland’s first biobutanol company, is now working with Scottish Enterprise to produce the fuel from sustainable resources on an industrial scale.

Its fermentation process uses the two main by-products of whisky production – ‘pot ale’, the liquid from the copper stills, and ‘draff’, the spent grains. Each year the industry produces 1600 million litres of pot ale and 500,000 tonnes of draff.

“The Scottish malt whisky industry is a ripe resource for developing bio-butanol,” said Professor Martin Tangney, Founder of Celtic Renewables and Director of the Biofuel Research Centre. “The pot ale and draff could be converted into biofuel as a direct substitute for fossil-derived fuel, which would reduce oil consumption and C02 emissions while also providing energy security – particularly in the rural and remote homelands of the whisky industry. He added: “The launch of Celtic Renewables is a very exciting development and there is huge potential for applying our process on a global scale.”