Celtic Renewables, an energy spin-out of Edinburgh Napier University, has been named Europe’s most innovative biotech small-to-medium enterprise (SME).
Given the title by the European Association for Bioindustries in its annual awards, Celtic also received a €10,000 ($11,210) prize, awarded by Carlos Moedas, commissioner for research, science, and innovation at the EU.
The spin-out, which launched last year, has secured £1m ($1.55m) from the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change after demonstrating that it can generate usable biofuel from whisky waste products which could be used to power cars. It is currently chasing £25m in an advanced biofuel demonstration competition judged by the UK Department for Transportation.
Martin Tangney, founder of Celtic, said: “This exceptional recognition by EuropaBio and the European Parliament is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved with Celtic Renewables and it highlights the importance of what we are trying to accomplish.”
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