Sewage sludge from Edinburgh's waste water will fertilise fields of biofuel crops, as the first sewage-to-biofuel scheme of its kind in the UK kind gets under way.
The pilot project will see rapeseed and wheat or barley grown on 1,000 hectares of Scotland's east coast processed into 5m litres of biofuels each year - enough to power 5,000 family cars, Scotland's environment minister Ross Finnie said as he launched the scheme.
About 25 farmers will grow the crops using "bio-solids" - otherwise known as sewage sludge - to fertilise their fields. Health concerns have led to a ban on applying sewage fertiliser to food crops, even after treatment, leaving biofuels as one of the only remaining uses.
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Sewage sludge from Edinburgh's waste water will fertilise fields of biofuel crops, as the first sewage-to-biofuel scheme of its kind in the UK kind gets under way.
