Monday 17 August 2020

Government backs whisky industry’s net zero ambitions with £10m funding

Government backs whisky industry’s net zero ambitions with £10m funding

A new £10 million funding has been made available by the government to help whisky distilleries go green and cut emissions by switching to low carbon fuels such as hydrogen.

The initiative aims to incentivise distilleries harness energy sources such as low carbon hydrogen, biomass and repurposed waste to power their operations.

The Hydrogen Advisory Council, the body which brings together government and industry to identify and enable the supply of low carbon hydrogen across various sectors, will help distilleries in going green.

The funding is estimated to slash carbon emissions by almost a million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, which is equivalent to taking 100,000 vehicles off the road.

Energy and Clean Growth Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: "Our plan to deliver a carbon-neutral future doesn’t just mean new jobs in new industries but helping some of our oldest industries to play their part as well.

"We want to harness the tremendous innovation of our distilleries so customers can enjoy their favourite tipple in the knowledge they are helping us to tackle climate change."

Dagmar Droogsma, Director of Industry at the Scotch Whisky Association, commented: "This fund will provide us with the opportunity to put forward bids for demonstration projects for so-far untested technologies, helping the Scotch Whisky industry play its part in reaching Scotland’s emissions targets."

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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