Our Forerunner Delivers Whiskey
Peak Planning the fore runner of HSM Planning took the lead planning role in the early days of the Veolia section of this £105 million investment in the Cameron Bridge Distillery, of which £65 million was for a bio energy plant.
Veolia designed the plant with BCI Process responsible for the stainless steel pipework linking the process plant packages and vessels, as well as providing the design and construction of the support structures and gangways.
"Distilling Bio-energy"
Whisky-powered renewable energy
Working with Diageo’s Cameronbridge Distillery, we have developed new technology to recover energy from the by-products of whisky production. Distillation is an energy-intensive process that has traditionally been reliant on fossil fuels. Because of this, distillers are always looking for sustainable ways of dealing with the waste they produce to improve their environmental footprint and deliver energy savings. The organic by-products of whiskymaking have great potential as a renewable energy source: draff and pot ale from malt distilling and spent wash from grain distilling. ‘Spent wash’ and ‘Draff’ are residues from spent grains, and ‘pot ale’ – is a copper laden liquid created by the fermentation and distillation process. Vast quantities of these by-products are created in the whisky industry every year. Draff has traditionally been used as ‘dark grain’ animal feed, fertiliser or soil conditioner because of its high organic content, while pot ale is often treated and disposed of via the local water course. We have developed a system that separates spent wash and draff into solids or liquids (aqueous streams). The solids, or biomass, can be used as a fuel, whilst anaerobic digestion is used to produce biogas from the liquid – a process where microorganisms break down the organic matter. Both the biomass and the biogas can be used to create steam or electricity. We also treat the liquid to create clean water. All of these resources (power, steam and water) are recycled back into the distillery, providing a sustainable production facility that minimises its impact on precious local resources. " http://www.veolia.co.uk/distilling-bio-energy
