On a sprawling farm next to the sandy beaches and sparkling waters of Lunan Bay in Scotland, a brand new distiller is sprinting into the global Scotch whiskey market by way of a job. new.
The Arbikie distillery started operations in 2014, taking on old farming and old energy, while overtaking long-established spirits brands who say they're doing "as much as they can right now" hours” and “hopefully do more” to meet climate goals. Arbikie is one of Scotland's newest distilleries, jumping on climate demands with both feet, aided by the agility of newly built and debt-free modern spaces for guests. Older customers are looking for age-old products.
Before the summer ends, Arbikie is expected to mark a groundbreaking achievement: removing fossil fuel stagnation by becoming the Scotch whiskey industry's first green hydrogen distillery.
It's a story of family traditions, cultural pride, land conservation and planetary expansion, rudimentary business know-how and survival. John Stirling and brothers Iain and David inherited this agribusiness for four generations from their father without a high school diploma but determined to work hard and build the business, eventually building it together. built 2,000 acres. Decades ago, it was part of a dairy farm, with a prolific Holstein Friesian dairy herd. However, like many dairy farmers, the pressure to lower prices from supermarkets forced them to abandon the dairy business. Today, in keeping with Scottish Highlands tradition, a peaceful herd of Highland cows of five stands in the field right in front of the Distillery centre.
John Stirling currently runs the farm. But as a young man, he ran away from the family business, with a 4 a.m. milking schedule and physical demands. After graduating from college, he joined one of the "Big Four" accounting firms. Reflecting on his life today and the excitement of his new business, he regrets not appreciating his uniquely beautiful corner of the world with its many challenges and texture bonus. However, he came back to it with the cold management skills of a world-class accountant.
Stirling explains: “When you start challenging things and looking at how you can make things better, the only thing we're tied to is our energy. Because operating spirits distillation equipment is extremely energy intensive, the industry has always had a significant carbon footprint. “Our energy is oil, and there is no other way,” says Stirling. We've looked at 'biomass' - combustion and other things - it won't get much better. So we are always challenged about this.”
Most industries are. The Scotch Whiskey Association has committed to continuing the trend of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “From 2008 to 2020, we have cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 53%, but by 2040 we will have achieved Net Zero emissions in our own operations,” stated SWA.
The transition to green energy is expensive. Armed with a record for innovative 21st-century farming practices, Arbikie entered and won the national "green distillery" competition to build a green hydrogen energy source and three million pounds. England (3 million pounds) to do it, which is almost 4 million US dollars.
Honestly, before visiting Arbikie farm and distillery, I didn't know what to expect. But the setup couldn't be more rudimentary and its footprint is modest. "It's wind power, basically, so we have a new turbine coming into operation: natural green electricity from the turbine," explains Stirling. Then you need water. And our water comes from the roofs of our distilleries, which is fed into a cistern. And then it goes into a container about 40 feet away, a hydrogen electrolyzer.
Wastewater and green electricity generate hydrogen, which will then feed our hydrogen boiler and power our distillery. And then the waste from that is water and oxygen. So it couldn't be greener."
At Stanford University in California, Lincoln Bleveans says it all makes sense. “All energy is local, even though conditions exist to optimize local production, such as wind, solar, hydro, geothermal resources, plus other components such as water for example, and/or energy imports such as nearby pipelines, power transmission, etc. ON." Bleveans is executive director of Stanford's Sustainability and Energy Management. That part of the world and technology, they seem to be blessed with - among other things - strong wind and water resources and lots of real estate, which seems to allow for remote wind power generation , cost-effective, combined with an abundant water supply, to split into hydrogen, while minimizing hydrogen storage and transport distances, risks,
This is definitely the future, says American energy consultant Peter Kelly-Detwiler, author of “The Energy Switch” (Prometheus Books, 2021). “Green hydrogen is becoming the media for so-called “hard to discount” industrial sectors, many of which require a lot of thermal energy and already use fossil fuels to get that heat. Steel and cement are making some important strides in this area, using hydrogen in different ways. It would make sense if a distillery focused on mitigation would also switch to a method of using hydrogen produced from renewable energy.” Interestingly, he notes, “one thing to understand is that hydrogen is not really an energy source, but an energy carrier. You are using wind energy,
In terms of absolute agriculture, Stirlings is farming the same as it is in 2023, replacing age-old quick solutions involving chemical products for the soil, abandoning monocultures and developing innovative natural products . Their master distiller, Kirsty Black, is a millennial Dr. with a major in plant science, has led the brand to promote sustainable development. “Working with the farmers – they really care about the soil,” says Black, who is prominent in the world of master distillers.
Black says she and other women are definitely in the minority in her brewing and distilling class at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. In her mind - no big deal, and in fact, the number of women distilling and bartending is growing rapidly. Growing up on a strawberry and raspberry farm near Inverness, Scotland, she has an easygoing sense of plants, flavors and how they can come together. The job gives her the opportunity to apply her knowledge and passion, she said.
It is that combination of skills that has put Arbikie on the environmental map with the spirit of "Climate Positive", which is derived from peas which, due to their unique structure, introduce nitrogen to the soil in a natural way. “Peas are part of a family of plants called legumes, which includes beans and lentils. All plants need nitrogen to grow but there isn't enough in the soil,” she explains, leading to high-carbon, artificial nitrogen fertilizers. “But peas can do it differently,” says Black. “They can get it from the air. They are self-sufficient. So by using peas to extract starch for distillation, instead of more traditional things like wheat, we immediately avoid a lot of carbon emissions.”
Today, Arbikie grows wheat, barley, rye, grass, peas, oats and canola. The brand's prize product will be an 18 year old single malt Scotch Whiskey with still 8 years to go. Meanwhile, gin and vodka in various flavors are already on the market and arguably always bright, along with an emerging Scotch rye whiskey in the industry.
Stirlings are born again regenerative farmers, relying heavily on cover crops that draw solar energy into the soil, nitrogen-enriched legumes to grow, crop rotation unlike poison farming doesn't deplete the soil and swap their hay and brandy - involving fodder on the neighboring farm, in exchange for the cattle's natural fertilizer. Potatoes are an important part of the crop on the farm, the ready-to-eat potatoes are sold to grocery stores, while the “delicious” potatoes are reserved for making vodka. It's a seven-year crop rotation that Stirling says is "for soil health, soil quality and minimizing any chemical inputs".
The farm is located a short distance from the ruins of the 12th-century "Red Castle", an ancient Scottish outpost intended to repel Viking invaders surfacing across the North Sea. And what an award that goes back hundreds of years, with ubiquitous waterways, wildlife, lush meadows and meadows, and the pristine beauty of Scottish lands.
Centuries later, that is the prize that John Stirling and his brothers are trying to preserve. When he started Arbikie Distillery, he said “we had very clear goals – farming the right way, caring about the environment, caring about the people we worked with, and creating an environment.” Do good work, then good things will come to you. It's easy to say that at the start, and there are challenges,” he said. “But I really believe in it, and now our field of bottling sustainable properties is starting to grow.”
