Diageo announces green facility at Scottish distillery

Diageo has announced plans to build a bioenergy facility at its spirits distillery in Fife, which it says will reduce its annual CO2 emissions by 56,000 - the equivalent of taking 44,000 family cars off the road.

It has signed a deal with energy management company Dalkia to build the facility at its Cameronbridge distillery at a cost of £65 million. It is believed to be the largest single investment in renewable technology by a non-utility company in the UK.

Subject to planning approval, the facility will provide 98 per cent of the thermal steam and 80 per cent of electrical power used at the facility.

The bioenergy facility will generate renewable energy from 'spent wash' - the mixture of wheat, malted barley, yeast and water produced during distillation. The spent wash is separated into liquid and dried solids. The liquid is then converted, via anaerobic digestion, into biogas and the dried solids form a biomass fuel source.

Around 90,000 tonnes of co-products, which would have required transport off-site by road, will be turned into bioenergy in the form of electricity and steam for use at the distillery. The facility will also recover almost a third of the site's water requirements.

"It is without question the right way forward in terms of our environmental ambitions and secures the long-term sustainability of our operations at Cameronbridge, moving the site away from reliance on fossil fuels," said Bryan Donaghey, managing director of Diageo Scotland.

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