11 producers in Scotland and six in England have already received a share of the Government funding to prompt their move towards greener energy sources, including low-carbon hydrogen, biomass and repurposed waste.
Successful applicants received between £44,000 and £75,000 in the first phase of funding.
Energy and clean growth minister Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Building back greener from the pandemic is something we can all raise a toast to.
‘Green industrial revolution’
“Every business can play a part in the green industrial revolution and this funding will allow UK distilleries to lead the way by making their production cleaner while also creating jobs.”
The Government hoped the funding would help enable distilleries to cut emissions by up to a million tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road.
Ian Stewart, UK government Scotland minister, added: “It is fantastic to see so many Scottish distilleries awarded this UK Government funding. Scotland is world-famous for its whisky and gin, with the spirits industry one of our greatest success stories.
Supporting jobs and local business
“This new funding will help the industry continue to build on its great work in tackling climate change. From Aberdeen and Glasgow to Orkney and South Uist, this funding will help create jobs, support local businesses and communities and build back greener ahead of COP26 [the UN climate change conference] in Glasgow later this year.”
Meanwhile, businesses will face mounting pressure to address their environmental impact and demonstrate clear action to consumers, employees, shareholders, investors and regulators, one legal expert has claimed.
List of successful phase 1 distilleries:
1. Protium Green Solutions Limited (£73,818), lead in London with a distillery partner in Islay. Using a low emission hydrogen boiler.
2. Locogen Ltd (£43,325), Edinburgh. Switching a distillery from fuel oil to hydrogen burners.
3. Protium Energy Limited (£57,464), Aberdeen. A high temperature heat store.
4. Cornish Geothermal Distillery Company (£75,000), Truro. Creating a geothermal distillery.
5. European Marine Energy Centre (£58,781), Orkney Islands. Assessing technology pathways to facilitate green hydrogen.
6. Supercritical Solutions Ltd (£53,000), lead in Horsham with a distillery partner in Glasgow. Electrolysers to enable fuel switching to zero emission sources.
7. The Uist Distilling Company Ltd (£44,572), The Isle of South Uist. Combination of a hydrogen burner and indirect heating of a thermal oil rather than steam.
8. Colorado Construction and Engineering Ltd (£73,636.80), Edinburgh. Hydrogen and dual hydrogen/biofuel burners for distilleries.
9. Vytok Ltd (£57,688.00), London. Heat pumps with water as the working fluid.
10. The Uist Distilling Company Ltd (£40,539.23), The Isle of South Uist. A high-temperature heat store that would allow a distillery to be run purely on electricity.
11. John Fergus & Co Ltd (£71,812.55), Glenrothes. The use of hydrogen on site to decarbonise process heat.
12. The Edrington Group Ltd (£56,930.00), Glasgow. An innovative stillhouse Condenser Hot Water Recovery System.
13. St Andrews Brewers Limited (£51,547.00), Glasgow. A combination of heat pumps, green hydrogen and biomass.
14. Bennamann Ltd (£46,620.11), Cornwall. Use of fugitive methane as fuel.
15. Sunamp Ltd (£61,412.50), Edinburgh. A large-scale phase change material thermal store.
16. Environmental Resources Management Limited (£68,951.00), London. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers.
17. Colorado Construction and Engineering Ltd (£74,768.10), Edinburgh. The conversion of waste distillery draff (spent grains from the malting process) and pot ale into a gasification-gas.
