Photo Credit: Glenfiddich.com
Scotland-based Glenfiddich is undoubtedly one of the most illustrious single-malt distilleries in the world. But, only a few know that Glenfiddich uses the remains of its world-famous scotch whiskey to power its delivery trucks. Drunk-driving much? Probably. But, there are only boons to this mode of driving.
In the production of whiskey, less than 10% of what comes out of the distillery is the primary product. What remains is draff, which are sugar-rich kernels of water-soaked barley; and pot-ale. The two are combined and fed to an anaerobic digester wherein bacteria in the apparatus break the residue and waste down to biogas.
Photo Credit: Glenfiddich.com
‘Fuelled by Glenfiddich' is a project that leverages this unique technology, developed by parent company William Grant & Sons. It converts whiskey distilling residues into Ultra-Low Carbon Fuel (ULCF) gas. This green biogas fuels the delivery trucks while producing minimal carbon dioxide and emissions.
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Now, these are no ordinary trucks. Glenfiddich boasts of its own closed-loop sustainable transport initiative that consists of LPG-trucks that have been converted to run on this green biogas. Currently, three trucks out of the 20 in the fleet run on the decarbonised fuel. With this, Glenfiddich claims to have reduced carbon emissions by 95% and greenhouse gas emissions by 99%. Rest of the trucks in the fleet will be converted in the near future.
Photo Credit: Glenfiddich.com
Glenfiddich's testing of whisky residue as fuel is originally based on an experiment conducted on that front by Edinburgh Napier University in tandem with independent whisky maker Tullibardine Distillery and biofuel start-up Celtic Renewables. The team ran a car on said whisky residue biofuel, which they termed biobutanol, across Edinburgh Naipier's Craiglockhart campus.
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At the time, the WWF praised this effort as the biofuel in question dispenses with the need to cut down forests, as is the case with some forms of biofuel such as palm oil.
