Glen Scotia distillery goes green
The bouyant whisky industry is helping a Campbeltown distillery cut its fuel bill and save the planet. A project valued at about £250,000 will see the boiler burner fuelled by Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) by the end of the year cutting Glen Scotia’s carbon dioxide emissions by 600 tonnes per year. Glen Scotia manager Iain McAlister said: ‘When heavy oil was phased out the distillery installed a dual fuel burner that uses gas oil, a diesel product, which will be our back-up once the LPG is installed. ‘LPG will save £60,000 per year from our fuel bill and reduce CO2 emissions. ‘It would not be possible to use the gas in the town’s gasometer as there would not be enough. Building work has been on-going for about a month and should be finished by mid-November. ‘Civil engineering work has been completed by McFadyens Contractor, the mechanicals by D M Fabrication, electricals by Archie Houston and the boiler will be commissioned by Cochran UK.’ In a further move to boost its green credentials, about a month ago the distillery and Plan B installed two bee hives on the grassy bank underneath its cherry trees off High Street. Mr McAlister is optimistic that next spring there will be another unique local honey produced. Mr McAlister added: ‘The bouyant whisky industry is leading to a lot of work in the town and increasing employment. ‘In 2008 Glen Scotia employed three people and produced 80,000 litres, today it has a team of nine making half-a-million litres.’ ‘Whisky is a truly global product, it is bringing increasing numbers from abroad to Campbeltown and this week we will welcome our first visitors from Paraguay. ‘India and China are huge markets and countries like Vietnam are developing. ‘Campbeltown is unique in whisky distilling there is nowhere else like it.’