Abstract
The use of co-products for animal feed can potentially have a higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and water scarcity offset compared to bio-energy (bio-electricity/fuel) production. We cluster 136 Scotch Whisky distilleries and evaluate the co-product pathways for the production of animal-feed and/or bio-energy at centralised processing facilities. Production of animal feed, and the subsequent displacement of imported animal feed, offered the most significant GHG offset, which was between a factor of c.a. 2.5 to 8 times greater than the bio-electricity/fuel and bio-energy/feed scenarios. This offers significant potential from a global net-zero carbon emissions perspective. However, this comes at a cost to local energy security potential. Bio-electricity produced in the electricity intensive scenarios was 481 GWh per year. This would significantly increase Scotland's bio-energy production and equates to c.a. 5% of Scotland's non-commercial electricity needs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 136436 |
| Journal | Journal of Cleaner Production |
| Volume | 395 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2023 |
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 13 Climate Action
Keywords
- Anaerobic digestion
- Circular economy
- Climate change
- Consequential LCA
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