Celtic Renewables partners Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant following investment

The partnership, which will allow the company to develop its technology at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant in Ghent, has been made possible by second-round funding worth €1.5m, including more than €1m from the UK government, to help meet its ambition of growing a new €125m-a-year industry in the UK.

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Celtic Renewables, a spin-out company from the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University, has already proved the concept of producing biobutanol from draff, the sugar-rich kernels of barley that are soaked in water to facilitate the fermentation process necessary for whisky production, and pot ale, the yeasty liquid that’s heating during distillation.

It will spend the next few months seeking to replicate work done in its Scottish laboratory at an industrial scale.

It’s anticipated that the work done by Celtic Renewables at the facility will facilitate the production of the world’s first industrial samples of biobutanol derived from whisky production residues, allowing it to be used as a direct replacement for petrol and diesel without the need to modify engines.

The company plans to build its first commercial demonstration facility in Scotland and is targeting a proposed €31.25m fund operated by the Department of Transport to help fund this.

Celtic Renewables is the first company to trial biobutanol technology at the Belgian demonstrator pilot facility and the first Scottish company to sign a partnership with BBEPP.

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