Scientists have discovered a new method for turning whey into bioethanol in a move that could place even greater pressure on supplies of the cheesemaking byproduct.
Whey has become a valuable commodity over the past few years with soaring demand for protein driving prices up fivefold to over €25k a tonne since 2023.
An additional source of demand could now be on its way after researchers at Heriot-Watt University in the UK teamed up with the start-up Take Root Bio to turn whey into bioethanol for use in vehicles and to heat homes.
Take Root Bio started out looking at how people might grow food in space, where every resource matters and nothing can be thrown away. It now applies the same principles to problems on Earth.
Does whey have other purposes?
“We’ve always been interested in what happens when you stop looking at something as waste and start asking what else it could become,” said founder Kirk Siderman-Wolter.
“Salty whey is produced in huge volumes and can be difficult to deal with, so we wanted to find out whether there was a better use for it.
“If we can help turn something that currently costs money to manage into something with real value, that’s a positive outcome for both dairy producers and the environment.”
Jane White, an expert in waste valorisation at Heriot-Watt University food and drink manufacturing produces a lot of by-products, many of which contain valuable components but can be challenging to manage.
“That makes them interesting candidates for bio-based processes that can recover value from materials that might otherwise be treated as waste.”
The sugars found in whey
The team looked at how the sugars found in whey could be transformed through a bio-based process to create greater value from the product.
Heriot-Watt’s Shiwen Zhuang said the project gave the opportunity to explore whether bio-based solutions could help unlock some of the value in salty whey while reducing the pressures associated with disposal.
“It’s exactly the kind of upcycling approach that could strengthen sustainability across the food and drink sector.”
Take Root Bio and the team at Heriot-Watt are now investigating whether similar techniques could be applied to other food and agricultural by-products, including waste from fruit and vegetable processing.
