Scotch Whisky to Energy? Scotland’s Famed Industry Looks to Alternative Energy

“The king o’ drinks, as I conceive it,
Talisker, Islay or Glenlivit”
-Robert Louis Stevenson

In Scotland, where the whisky is king, a relatively new environmental technology–anaerobic digestion–may soon partner with the age-old method of distillery to satisfy much of the isle’s energy needs.

Bruichladdich Distillery, located on the isle of Islay, plans to build two anaerobic digesters to convert thousand of tons of yeasty waste into methane gas.  The methane gas will then be burned to create energy, with the help of Biowayste, a Northamptonshire firm that has installed five such plants.

The whisky industry’s carbon footprint is thought to be among the largest of all food and drink producers in the world.  In addition to the cost needed to ship the heavy bottles from Scotland, the process of distillation is extremely energy-intensive. And in Islay, the thousands of tons of waste created by the industry is shipped to a pipeline at the Sound of Islay, where it’s disposed of in the sea.

Bruichladdich Distillery plans to market itself as a “green whisky” at home and abroad, and they’ve chosen anaerobic digestion as a natural first step.

“We are going to install two anaerobic digesters on our site where the waste will be broken down to produce biogas, which can then be burnt to make electricity. In theory, it could meet all our power needs,” says Mark Reynier, owner of the Bruichladdich Distillery.

At least seven other distilleries on the island are considering installing anaerobic digesters.  Their combined efforts could in time, supply much, if not most, of Scotland’s energy needs.

“Whisky has a very high carbon footprint,” Reynier says. “We have already cut it by using locally grown and organic barley rather than importing it, and these digesters will bring it down further.”

The cost-benefit analysis also sweetens the deal.  Reynier estimates that he spends $36,000 a year just to transport whisky yeast waste to the pipeline at the Sound of Islay.  The digesters will also supply him with the electricity he needs to power the distillery–at least $50,000 annually.  Add government subsidies, and Reynier estimates that it will only take three or five years for him to recoup the capital costs of building the digesters.

Read more about this green whisky news here.