Scottish biotech company MiAlgae has broken ground on a new facility to produce omega-3 rich microalgae fed with byproducts from whisky distillation.
Although fish oil is the traditional source of omega-3s, fish do not produce omega-3 but acquire them from eating algae and smaller fish that contain these essential nutrients.
MiAlgae has produced a plant-based alternative to fish-based omega-3 fatty acids from leftover barley grains – that would normally be discarded – used in whisky production.
The barley grains are used to feed the algae in MiAlgae’s fermentation tanks, generating omega-3-rich algal product that is dehydrated and processed into large quantities of fish-free omega-3 pet food and commercial fish feed products.
The company has received a joint investment of £3M (US$4.1M) from the Scottish and UK governments and announced breaking ground on
a new production facility in Grangemouth, Scotland on 12 December.
Located in Grangemouth, the new site would increase the supply of fish-free omega-3 oils for the global pet food industry, MiAlgae said.
The plant was scheduled to open in the second quarter of this year and was expected to recycle 36.1M litres of whisky byproducts, leading to a ten-fold increase in production capacity.
“Breaking ground at Grangemouth marks an exciting new chapter for MiAlgae. Our mission has always been to make a meaningful impact, tackling overfishing, reducing waste and creating sustainable value from industrial by-products. This new facility is a huge step towards delivering that mission at scale,” said Douglas Martin, founder and CEO of MiAlgae.
Located close to key raw material suppliers and major customers, MiAlgae said the facility was designed with modular scalability, allowing it to meet growing demand from pet food and aquaculture brands.
The company said its goal was to produce 53,000 tonnes/year of marine omega-3 microalgae, reducing global dependence on fish oil by 10%.
To date, MiAlgae said it had reduced CO₂ emissions by the equivalent of 2.1M tonnes, used 639M litres of whisky by-products and replaced 1.6M tonnes of wild fish.
As MiAlgae’s technology was modular, it could be scaled quickly and built near distilleries for the collection of grain leftovers, the company said.
MiAlgae currently produces two products – MiAlgaeFish for aquaculture feed and MiAlgaePet for pet food supplementation.
