UK provides funding for distilleries to reduce emissions

THE UK Government has announced £11.3m (US$15.1m) in funding for distilleries to help them cut emissions and support green jobs.

According to the Government statement, the distilleries sector has the potential to cut emissions by 0.5m t/y. It said that the investment is intended to help them develop low-carbon heating systems including the use of hydrogen and biogas, create more high skilled jobs, and provide opportunities to develop their fuel transportation and storage technologies.

In phase one of the Green Distilleries Competition funding, 17 projects were selected and each received up to £75,000 to boost R&D for decarbonisation projects. The new funding is part of phase two, where four projects have been selected to share the £11.3m. They are:

• Protium Green Solutions, which is developing a system to use a hydrogen boiler instead of an oil boiler.
• Locogen, which is developing a green hydrogen energy system to raise steam in the distillation process. The system includes a wind turbine, electrolyser, hydrogen storage and hydrogen boiler system.
• Colorado Construction and Engineering, which is developing a biofuel batch-gasification system. The technology could enable distilleries to retrofit existing boilers with the means to gasify biofuels.
• Supercritical Solutions, which is developing a high-pressure ultra-efficient electrolyser to generate green hydrogen as a feedstock for the distilling process.

Karen Betts, Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: “This funding is a welcome boost for the industry at a time when Scotch Whisky companies are already working hard to reduce their emissions. As a result, nearly 40% of the industry’s energy is now coming from renewable sources. 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. This is exactly the sort of industry-government partnership that will help us to secure a sustainable future for Scotch Whisky and for the communities across Scotland within which we work.”