One for the Road

GLENFIDDICH TURNS WHISKEY WASTE INTO BIOFUEL

Gaelic for 'Valley of the Deer', family owned Glenfiddich (the World's Most Awarded Single Malt* Scotch Whisky) has grown even more legs through the launch of its pioneering 'closed loop' sustainable transport initiative, turning whisky waste into ultra-low carbon fuel to power their delivery trucks.

Estimating that each green and white 'Fuelled by Glenfiddich' truck will displace up to 250 tonnes of CO2 each year, Kirsty Dagnan, site leader at the distillery's Dufftown facility said in a statement: "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 fuels 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."

According to figures forecast by Glenfiddich's parent company, William Grant & Sons, when compared to diesel and other fossil fuel alternatives, their innovative 'closed-loop system' is set to cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 99%, an equivalent environmental impact of planting 4,000 trees every year.

This is just one of a range of sustainability activities taking place across William Grant & Son's wider business in line with the Scotch Whisky Association's roadmap to achieve targets set out under the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals which will be the main focus of the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this November.

In addition to producing eco-friendly fuel, the distillery has gone another step further towards reducing its carbon footprint by using leftover solids from biofuel production to fertilize the barley fields of its farming partners. They are also planning to make their bio-fuel technology available across the Scottish whisky industry to support the decarbonisation of transport net-zero targets set by the UK and Scottish governments.