John Dewar & Sons powers Scottish homes

John Dewar & Sons is upholding its commitment to sustainability with a new Speyside facility that produces enough heat and power for thousands of Scottish homes.

John Dewar & Sons is powering local communities with a new Speyside facility

Rothes CoRDe, part-owned by The Combination of Rothes Distillers, is a facility that generates enough energy to power communities of neighbouring distilleries.

“A number of whisky companies are part of an industry consortium looking at sustainable ways of processing by-products from our distilleries,” said Iain Lochhead, operations director for John Dewar & Sons Ltd., part of the Bacardi group of companies. “We believe we are doing our part in protecting the environment in Scotland.

“Since we use natural ingredients to make our whisky, we want to leave our surroundings in the same pristine condition as we find them.”

The Speyside region in Scotland boasts approximately 50 whisky distilleries, and at the centre of the region is Rothes, which is home to a new blended-biomass plant.

The equipment works by burning draff – the spent grains used in the distilling process – with woodchips to create steam-generating electricity.

“We generate 8.3 megawatts of electricity every hour of every day,” said Frank Burns, managing director, Rothes CoRDe. “We use some onsite and export the rest – enough for 20,000 people in 8,000 homes. We are powering all of the local communities.

Furthermore, residue from copper pot whisky stills, known as pot ale, is turned into organic feedstock that local farmers use for their animals.

“By recovering by-products from our distilleries, we return them into material of purpose and value,” Burns added. “Ultimately, everything we make, whether it’s animal feed – or even the ash from our boiler process – goes back to the land or to the farm.”

Bacardi first began recording its global impact on the environment in 2006, and has since reduced non-renewable energy use by almost 28%, while greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by more than 28%.

David Williamson, of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), said: “In the end, we want to take this industry forward, to invest and grow, but also make sure we preserve the natural environment we rely on to support Scotch whisky for many years to come.”