The Whisky Project, led by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre, includes Horizon Proteins, MiAlgae, and BioPower Technologies working to maximize value from whisky coproducts like draff and pot ale. All three companies already leverage whisky byproducts: Horizon Proteins extracts proteins from whisky production for animal feed, MiAlgae uses byproducts to make omega-3s for fish feed, and BioPower Technologies makes flour from draff. Under the Whisky Project, BioPower is evaluating whether liquids created by its produces could be beneficial to Horizon Proteins and MiAlgae, as well as look for further uses of pot ale.
IBioIC’s FlexBio laboratory at Heriot Watt University is also involved in the project, which has received £315,000 (USD$428 million) in funding. Zero Waste Scotland ponied up £130,000, with contributions from Scotch Whisky Research Institute and others. The project is a “tremendous value of how we can add significant benefit with a circular approach to
Scotland’s whisky industry and biotechnology innovators are continuing to up their game to try and find new sustainable solutions from whisky co-products such as animal feed, while a new barley based vodka from Finland sees benefits for pig farmers as well as the circular economy.
Firstly, a year-long research initiative, The Whisky Project, is being led by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), and is funded to the tune of £315k (US$428k) in total, with £130k of a contribution from Zero Waste Scotland.
The project, which is also receiving additional support from the Scotch Whisky Research Institute (SWRI), sees three IBioIC members, Horizon Proteins, MiAlgae and BioPower Technologies, working in unison to further explore ways to extract maximum value from whisky co-products such as draff, the husk residue left from fermentation, and pot ale, the liquid remaining after the first distillation.