A new life for uisce beatha

THAT jovial, time-honoured phrase, "one for the road", could be given an entirely new meaning if scientists working on by-products from whiskey-making have their way.

The stuff left over from the distillation process can be turned into fuel for cars, or even planes, and could be on sale at petrol stations in a few years. Research has been underway in Scotland for several years and continues to receive Government and European funding. Distilling is now one of Ireland’s fastest growing industries. Sales of Irish uisce beatha globally have doubled in the last 10 years and are up by nearly 50% since 2008. Sales are growing at around 10% annually.

We might think we’re big whiskey producers (and drinkers!) but the Scots produce about 14 times more whiskey than we do. Little wonder then that it has often been said that whiskey is the power that drives the Scottish economy.