Pernod Ricard's Scotch whisky arm Chivas Brothers is supporting other whisky distillers to cut their carbon footprints by making internal research on enhanced heat recovery technology available to others.
The company, owner of brands including Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet, is sharing the design process and implementation insights from applying the technology at its Glentauchers Distillery near Keith in Speyside.
The heat recovery technologies employed, including mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) and thermo vapour compression (TVR), are designed to capture and recycle heat generated in the distillation process. The equipment was supplied by Piller Blowers & Compressors GmbH, a manufacturer of blowers and compressors which worked with Chivas Brothers to adapt its kit for the distilling industry.
To date, the technologies have helped to reduce the total energy consumption at Glentauchers by 48 per cent and carbon emissions by 53 per cent.
This wider application follows a pilot project on heat recovery technology at Glentauchers, which launched in 2021 and was part-funded by the Scottish government through the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.
As well as plans to roll out the technologies across all its viable sites to help the business achieve carbon-neutral distillation by 2026, Chivas Brothers has also made the research 'open source' in a bid to help other Scotch whisky distilleries reduce their carbon emissions and support the drive towards net zero, which the Scotch Whisky Association has challenged the industry to achieve by 2040.
Alongside releasing design details and a case study on the technology's implementation, Chivas Brothers will be hosting a series of open-house events at Glentauchers for others distillers to see the technology and how it has been integrated and to ask questions of the Chivas Brothers team.
Jean-Etienne Gourgues, chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers, said: “Heat recovery forms a critical part of our commitment to achieve carbon neutral distillation by 2026. Findings with such significant impact must be shared; this technology has the potential to transform our industry and accelerate its progress to net zero... That’s why today we’re making our design process and implementation learnings available to all.
"As a business with a long history of innovation, we believe this is the right thing to do. Collaboration across our industry will be fundamental if we are to meet collective ambitions around sustainability, safeguarding the long-term future of our product and our planet. Understandably, this technology won’t be right for every distillery, but we encourage our peers to explore whether it has the potential to reduce their own carbon output.”
Scottish government energy minister Gillian Martin said: “Chivas Brothers has led the way with an innovative approach which has halved energy consumption at their Glentauchers Distillery. Sharing this breakthrough with the wider whisky industry has the potential to advance efforts to reach net zero across the sector."
