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From the Financial Times, by-products of the scotch whisky production will be used to generate heat and electricity.

The Combination of Rothes Distillers (Cord) would replace its dependence on fossil fuels by taking as fuel the used malted barley known as "draff" and the "pot ale" residue left by the distilleries on Speyside.

The plant would be able to generate 7.2 megawatts of electricity, mostly for export to the national grid - enough to power 9,000 homes. It would also save about 46,642 tonnes of CO 2 being emitted annually, compared with an equivalent level of coal-fired generating capacity.

The plant would also convert the pot ale left after the first distillation of whisky into a concentrated organic fertiliser for use by farmers on crops such as the barley used in the malting process.

My obsession with distillery waste products is no secret, so this is very exciting news to me. I think what they refer to as the "pot ale" is the heads and tails. Some other distilleries, such as 4 Copas tequila, also turn this into (organic) fertilizer when mixed with the discarded leaves of the agave plant. Others sell the heads and tails to industrial alcohol companies. In the US and Canada anyway, much of the solid waste from the spent corn and other grains is used as animal feed.

Labels: distilling, eco-booze, whisky