You may have recently come across click-bait headlines around social media with the news of a Scottish initiative to replace expensive petrol with whisky.
As you’ve probably guessed, that’s not exactly the case…
First of all, of course, we are not talking about pouring the distillate directly into the tank, but about using the distillation waste product to produce bio-fuel, a project already implemented by Glenfiddich in 2021 to fuel its trucks in a sustainable way.
The distillery has built a refuelling plant in Dufftown for its trucks, fuelling them with ULCF (Ultra-Low Carbon Fuel) gas, which is produced from distillation waste liquid and spent grain, already recycled as livestock food.
So why is this news being highlighted today if it was from a year ago?
Because there is another project, this time carried out by Ardnamurchan in collaboration with two other Scottish companies, Woodlands Renewables and Celtic Renewables, which, as the name suggests, deal with renewable and sustainable energy.
Woolands Renewables was already converting waste material into livestock food, and with this new partnership the 50,000 tonnes of biological material will also create sustainable fuel, at an investment of £43 million.
Ardnamurchan Distillery managing director Alex Bruce said: “We designed The Ardnamurchan Distillery to be as sustainable as possible, and we continue to monitor and develop this as new technologies become available. Our energy all comes from local renewable sources (hydro and biomass) and our co-products, which are traditionally produced in all distilleries, are supplied to our neighbours, Woodland Renewables. From there they add value to the local circular economy by providing highly nutritional animal feed to livestock on Ardnamurchan, and we are incredibly excited that they also now deliver additional value to Celtic Renewables for conversion into sustainable chemicals and biofuels. This combination is a fantastic example of collaborative, high value and sustainable long-term investment in the Scottish economy.”