The UK government has announced an investment of more than £11 million in distillery decarbonisation projects to help them to reduce carbon emissions from current spirit manufacturing methods.
The £11.3 million of funding, part of the second stage of the government’s Green Distilleries Competition, will be invested in four projects used by major whisky and spirit manufacturers to decarbonise their distilling processes.
Through using these lower-carbon processes, fuelled by biogas or hydrogen, the distilleries sector could cut its carbon emissions by as much as half a million tons annually. Such a reduction is comparable to the emissions from powering 60,000 homes or driving 100,000 cars for a year.
Energy Minister Greg Hands said, “From London to Livingston, the UK is home to some of the world’s best-loved drinks and the Green Distilleries Competition is supporting producers in this iconic industry to go further and faster in cutting carbon emissions as we build back greener.
“We have been at the forefront of the push to tackle climate change at the COP26 summit in Glasgow and today’s announcement is a key part of that.”
Phase one of the Green Distilleries Competition saw 17 projects around the country receiving up to £75,000 towards the research and development of new distillery decarbonisation methods. Phase two will see four of the 17 receive an additional share of the 11.3 million to progress their efforts.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said, “It’s fitting that this announcement comes just before St Andrew’s Day when Scotland’s most famous product will be celebrated around the globe. Scotland’s whisky industry has a proud heritage and is taking massive steps to embrace innovative technologies that will make production greener and cleaner.
“UK government investment like this will help secure the future of the sector and the highly-skilled jobs it supports.”
Scotch Whisky Association Chief Executive Karen Betts said, “This funding is a welcome boost for the industry. But we know we need to go further and faster, and that’s where the Green Distilleries Competition is so critical since it supports companies in testing new technologies.
“The results of the work undertaken through the competition are then shared across the sector, which helps everyone to map further our path to Net Zero.”
