“When the distillery was designed, low energy technologies were designed in from the very beginning, reflecting the age we live in. We adopted three strategies, reduce, recycle, and reuse. We used equipment that did not need as much energy as older technologies, we designed the stills so they recycle much of their own energy and we designed the mashing plant to reuse energy from one of the wash still condensers. The office underfloor heating is from the same source. Despite this, we still needed a primary heat source, natural gas burning in our steam boiler.

The UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) asked for proposals to study the use of alternative fuels. This was a competition and only the best proposals would receive funding for the feasibility study. InchDairnie along with ARUP submitted a successful proposal.

The feasibility study will look at what is needed to convert the distillery from natural gas as the principle heat source to burning hydrogen. The hydrogen sources studied will be hydrogen produced at the distillery by either electrolysis or by extracting the hydrogen from the methane generated at our local anaerobic digestor (AD). In addition, the study will look at using hydrogen produced elsewhere in Fife using renewable fuels which will then be taken to the distillery.

We have recently updated our carbon footprint calculation now that we are using renewable electricity and all our draff and pot ale are going to the local AD plant. When this feasibility study is completed, we will use the information to see what impact the various options will have on our carbon footprint.”

Ian Palmer, Managing Director