Hydrogen-powered whisky and gin

TWO distilleries on Orkney are investigating whether they can use hydrogen to make their whisky and gin.

Whisky maker Highland Park and gin producer Orkney Distillery are looking at powering their distilleries using hydrogen.

Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) is at the forefront of hydrogen technology.

The centre is using electricity generated by renewable energy devices – including tidal power machines – to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

“HySpirits 2″ is the latest in a string of projects to find uses for the hydrogen, ranging from running ferries through to powering planes.

Stephen Kemp, director of The Orkney Distilling, said: “Orcadians have been at the forefront of energy innovation now for generations, and we are extremely pleased to be a part of this further Orcadian collaboration that will serve to strengthen connections between EMEC’s ground-breaking green hydrogen development and the local distillery sector.”

James Walker, hydrogen manager at EMEC, added: “With many distilleries located in remote areas off the natural gas network and using fuel oils to generate process heat for malting and distilling, there is great scope for applying the findings from our project to a cross section of the wider industry.”

The project is being funded with a grant from the UK Government’s “Green Distilleries Competition”.

Read more news and reviews on Scottish Field’s whisky pages.

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