WHEN you hear there are Scottish hotties visiting Hong Kong, you have to investigate.

I’d already been researching the Eco Expo Asia 2016 this week, ahead of some filming. It’s a green geek go-to. A shop window for energy efficiency and tech solutions. Unless you arrive by a bus run on vegetable oil-derived biodiesel, wearing upcycled clothing, don’t bother.

At such an event, the “hotties” work with heat tech. Say hello to Scots company Sunamp, from East Lothian. They do heat batteries for your house.

Then I heard there were Scots who were swimming in it. Turned out to be Hydrosense, from Linlithgow: water safety tech experts with a smart toolkit which detects legionella bacteria. Clever then. Maybe rich soon?

The green industry is filled with zany introductions.

“What do you do?”

“Can you guess? I am flush.”

“You deal in environmental waste management, right?”

Scotland is a new exhibiting country at the Eco Expo Asia. This means lots of Scottish techies have created cutting edge products of global excellence, and are here showcasing them. Which is why I feel sure Scotland’s new energy and smart tech companies can rise to the challenge I am presenting them. I am not sure it’s possible – yet – but we seem to have the talent, so shall we try? The challenge is: powering Scotland from muffin tops.

Let me explain. As an avid exerciser, I was reading about a new piece of tech that analyses your breath to tell if you are burning fat. This was a separate discovery, by the way. The piece of tech in question is not at this Eco Expo. (Believe me, when a company has “used 50 years of breath science” to create its product, it’s not Chinese.)

The development comes from Levl, a US operation. They’ve devised a nanosensor or, to describe it in a different way, a fat breathalyser.

Here’s my précis of how their nanosensor works. When you’re exercising very hard, your body burns fat it previously stored for energy. This means ketosis is occurring. During ketosis, the body generates molecules. One type of molecule is acetone. And because acetone is so small, it can be measured in your puff.

Congratulations Levl. But let’s take this discovery forward. Your breath indicates if you are burning fat, you say. But could it do more? Could that breath contain energy, because of the fat being burnt off? Could there be breath capture technology in the way there is gas capture tech? Might gyms become fat-burning breath farms, replacing wind farms? Not today but after many nerdy experiments during which no gym-goers will be harmed? (Except for that weightlifter next to you. He deserves to be prodded.)

Let’s get Scottish smart tech guys and gals together with the nanosensor guys and gals, shall we? And create “Scotland – the first nation powered by muffin tops”. Flab is the new crude. Just the boost Nicola Sturgeon needs: creating a lean, green nation, from its own resources.

One last thought. Careful that nanosensor doesn’t analyse the First Minister’s breath as she talks of a second independence referendum. It might reveal a lot of hot air.