Whisky waste to power distillery

WASTE products from whisky could soon be powering drinks giant Diageo's largest distillery.

The company is planning to install a £65 million bio- energy system at its Cameronbridge plant, near Leven in Fife.

According to the company, the system will reduce carbon dioxide emissions at the site by about 56,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to taking 44,000 cars off the road.

In plans unveiled yesterday, the company said "spent wash" – a mixture of wheat, malted barley, yeast and water produced during distillation – would be used to generate about 98 per cent of the steam needed at the distillery and about 80 per cent of the electricity.

Diageo, which unveiled the project in partnership with Dalkia, an energy management company, said the bio-energy plant would use anaerobic digestion and biomass conversion to generate the steam and power.

Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "It's great to see our most iconic export industry take the lead on environmental issues. This will do wonders for Scotland's image as a renewables powerhouse."