Scotland’s distilleries could be helping to feed the country’s growing fish farming industry in future.
A pilot scheme being launched next year aims to convert waste from whisky production into salmon feed.
More than 100million gallons of whisky are produced in the UK each year, generating up to 1.5billion gallons of potentially harmful waste byproduct in the process.
Chemical engineers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh are looking to solve this problem by converting some of the waste into protein-rich feed, which could provide a sustainable and economic supply of feedstock for salmon farmers.
A pilot of the Horizons Proteins project is scheduled for August 2014 at an as-yet-unnamed whisky distillery.
Experts will study the economic, nutritional, environmental and chemical engineering processes involved in large-scale production of the proteins.
Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) chief executive David Brown said: “Distillery effluent can be damaging but contains potentially valuable nutrients and micro-nutrients.
“The waste can be used to produce a microbial biomass which has the potential to be a cheap and sustainable source of protein-rich feed.”
He added: “The academic team at Heriot-Watt University has already been recognised for its excellent work by IChemE’s food and drink special interest group.
“Their work and others looking at the microbial treatment of waste is very exciting and has many potential applications, including crude oil recovery, healthcare and in environmental protection.”
Julie Hesketh-Laird, Scotch Whisky Association director of operational and technical affairs, said: “We hope this Heriot Watt University-led research will help develop a broad range of even higher quality feeds. Scotch whisky truly is the water of life.”
Farmed salmon production in Scotland soared last year to its highest level since 2003.
A total of 162,223 tonnes of the fish was produced in 2012, which represents a 2.7% increase on the previous year’s figure. Salmon is Scotland’s largest food export, generating in excess of £1billion in annual sales to customers in more than 60 countries.