Independent Scottish whisky distillery Nc’nean has hailed reaching net zero emissions for production.
Nc’nean's carbon footprint is verified by Environmental Strategies Ltd, confirming that the few emissions that result from its production is less than the amount of emissions which have been removed from the atmosphere, it said.
Nc’nean founder Annabel Thomas said: “This feels like our greatest achievement so far.
“From the moment we started out on this adventure, there have been plenty of people who told us that using renewable energy would be too hard and that organic barley would be impossible to work with. Many even said that using a 100% recycled glass bottle just wasn’t the done thing in premium spirits.
“I am incredibly proud of our small team, who have put their hearts and souls into overcoming all of these barriers to create a delicious whisky with the lowest possible footprint – and 20 years ahead of the industry’s target.”
“But this is just the beginning. In a year where Scotland is hosting COP26 and sustainability is such a hot topic, it is my hope that our work will inspire others in our industry. We want more companies to look at their mode of operating and make improvements where they can, as we will also be continuing to do across our business.”
Nc’nean’s head of sustainability, Amy Stammers, said: “Sustainability has been at the heart of our mission since inception and it really is at the core of everything we do. Working to produce our first full carbon footprint has been tough but rewarding, and it is my hope that others in the industry will follow in our footsteps and publish theirs too. It is only by measuring emissions that companies can really focus on reducing them. There is still more to achieve.”
Net zero status has been accomplished by powering Nc'nean with 100% renewable energy, and offsetting the remaining few emissions through partner Highland Carbon. The distillery uses woodchip from a commercial forest two miles from the distillery to power its biomass boiler, which in turn heats its copper stills - all trees are replanted. The small amount of electricity that is used is 100% renewable and verified zero carbon, supplied by Bulb. The residual carbon emissions have been offset via a sustainable forest planting project with a verified carbon standard hallmark.
Major UK law firm signals appetite for Scottish expansion
MAJOR UK law firm Shoosmiths has declared its intention to expand further in Scotland after taking permanent office space in the heart of Glasgow’s innovation district.
Stuart Patrick: Need for a Scottish aviation strategy
OPINION: With the Scottish Government’s announcement last week of a new advisory council to help develop a 10-year National Strategy for Economic Transformation perhaps the hard work of rebuilding the government’s fractured relationship with business has now begun.
Sign up
You can now have the new enhanced Business Briefing with the top business news stories sent direct to your inbox, and Business Week for the weekly round-up on Sunday, by clicking below:
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel