Glenfiddich turns waste into green fuel for its fleet
THE team behind Speyside single malt Glenfiddich is driving forward with a sustainable transport initiative which it says will make it the first global spirits brand to run its delivery fleet on green biogas made from the residues of its own distilling process.
Using technology developed by parent company William Grant & Sons, the Glenfiddich distillery at Dufftown converts its production wastes and residues into an Ultra-Low Carbon Fuel (ULCF) gas, which is said to produce minimal carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions.
Fuelling stations have been installed at the distillery, and the biogas is now powering specially-converted trucks bearing the statement: ‘Fuelled by Glenfiddich – turning whisky waste into Ultra Low Carbon Fuel’.
Stuart Watts, William Grant & Sons’ distilleries director, said: “It has taken more than a decade for Glenfiddich to become the first distillery to process 100% of its waste residues on its own site, then to be the first to process those residues into biogas fuel to power its trucks, and finally to be the first to install a biogas truck fuelling station supplied by our on-site renewable energy facility.
“Across the entire production lifecycle, the biogas reduces carbon dioxide (CO2e) by over 95% and other harmful particulates and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 99% when compared to diesel and other fossil fuels. Each truck will displace up to 250 tonnes of CO2e annually, which has the same environmental benefit as planting up to 4000 trees every year – the equivalent of displacing natural gas, a fossil fuel, from 112 households.
“William Grant & Sons has been a pioneering distiller for more than 130 years, always exploring new processes and techniques to create sustainable benefits for our business and communities. We are proud of these renewable energy breakthroughs in our industry as we scale up the de-carbonising benefits of this closed-loop process across our entire transport fleet.”
The Fuelled by Glenfiddich initiative is the latest in a range of sustainability activities across William Grant & Sons’ business in line with the Scotch Whisky Association’s roadmap to achieve targets set out under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
