52 Whisky Magazine | Issue 167
Production Sustainable Distilling
This page,
clockwise:
Dalmunach was
designed to be
Chivas Brothers’
most energy
efficient distillery;
Glenmorangie has
helped to restore
oyster beds to the
Dornoch Firth;
Tamdhu installed
a fish pass on the
Knockando Burn.to demand higher eco standards from
both themselves and their favouritebrands. Though the phasing out of
single-use plastic straws and cupsin some markets is probably one of
the most visual ways that the widerbeverage industry has quickly shifted
in favour of one greener alternative, thebulk of progress (or lack thereof) in the
world of whisky has been happeningquietly behind the scenes and has
received little mainstream publicity.Back in 2009, the Scotch Whisky
Association (SWA) announced anEnvironmental Strategy for the entire
ȋβindustry in Scotland) that set what the
trade body described as ‘challenging’2020 targets for distillers across
emissions, water, packaging and waste.It’s worth noting, however, that all of
these SWA targets are voluntary, only
apply to members of the association(there are 74 at present, representing
most of the major players), andshouldn’t be confused with UK laws
governing environmental regulationand sustainability.
The 2009 strategy was reviewed in2016 and the most recent report, in
2018, showed promising results. Forexample, by 2020 the SWA aimed for
the Scotch whisky category to source20 per cent of all energy from non-fossil
fuels. This target was met four years
early and, by 2018, the report showed
that 21 per cent of primary energy usecame from non-fossil fuels, up from just
three per cent in 2008. The next targetsare 40 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent
by 2050, though a stretch target of 90per cent has been considered.
The industry has also reducedits overall CO 2 emissions by 22 per
cent since 2008, an improvement
resulting largely from the widespreadβ
technologies in production andincreasing use of lower or zero carbon-
emitting energy sources. For example,where a distillery’s energy can’t be
switched to fully sustainable sources,moving from fuel oil to natural gas or
β
β
its CO 2 emissions. This is partly due tothose energy sources being generally
cleaner than oil, but also because theyβ
such as boiler economisers.In Speyside, home to the highest
concentration of Scotch whiskydistilleries, the industry is collaborating
to extend the local gas grid, whichrecently has allowed at least eight
distilleries to shift to natural gas, whilealso extending local domestic access to
the grid and reducing reliance on more OPENING PAGES © THOMAS BINA AT DREAMSTIME.COMcostly gas canister or oil deliveries.
This latter point is an importantβǡ
an acute issue in Moray, with 32 percent of households spending more
than 10 per cent of income on fuel. Fordistillers, this shift has both helped to
slowly wean production sites off fueloil, but also reduced overall road miles
as deliveries are no longer neededyear-round to keep the boiler running.
Unfortunately, restrictions still existin the Speyside mains gas network
and some sites are only able to utiliseit during the summer months when
domestic demand is lower. However, inspite of these developments, fossil-fuel
β
challenge for the whole industry.
Concerning road miles, there iscurrently no collated data or reduction
target set by the SWA as part of its
environmental strategy. However,Scotland is leading the way in the UK
on electric vehicle (EV) charging andthe average distance between charging
points is just 2.78 miles, compared to3.77 miles in England. Furthermore,
the Electric A9 initiative is helpingto deliver frequent charging points
that link Northern Scotland with thecentral belt. Unfortunately, we are still
a few years away from the widespreadadoption of hybrid or other low-
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