UK distilleries are raising a toast as beneficiaries of £10m in funding from the UK government to help them switch to low carbon fuels such as hydrogen.
The fund will be split among 17 distilleries, comprising 11 across Scotland and six in England.
The successful distilleries will receive between £44,000 and £75,000 each in the first phase of funding, helping them boost decarbonisation research and development, with schemes including the use of hydrogen and biofuel boilers and geothermal energy in their production processes.
The funding for the Green Distilleries competition is part of the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative low-carbon technologies, systems and processes in the power, buildings and industrial sectors.
Energy and clean growth minister Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Building back greener from the pandemic is something we can all raise a toast to.
“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.”
In 2019, the UK distilleries industry grew by 20%, highlighting the opportunity for the sector to be at the heart of the UK’s green and resilient recovery from coronavirus.
The Scotch whisky industry supports 40,000 jobs across the UK, with more than 10,000 people directly employed in Scotland.
Dagmar Droogsma (pictured), director of industry at the Scotch Whisky Association, said: “The Green Distilleries Fund is an important step on the industry’s journey towards net zero.
“It will help the industry test new technologies, like hydrogen, which can be rolled out at scale in future years and enable Scotch Whisky to further drive down emissions and protect the natural environment.”
Successful phase one distilleries and partners include Protium Green Solutions Limited (£73,818), in London with a distillery partner in Islay, which is using a low emission hydrogen boiler, Cornish Geothermal Distillery Company (£75,000), in Truro, which is creating a geothermal distillery and EMEC (£58,781), Orkney Islands, which is assessing technology pathways to facilitate green hydrogen.