Scotland’s Climate Week: Firms receive £9.4m to help cut carbon

Decarbonisation fund recipients announced as applications re-open

Ten companies have been awarded a total of £9.4 million to help Scottish industries reduce carbon emissions through decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects.

The recipients from the second round of the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF) are predominantly involved in the manufacturing and food and drink sectors.

The projects include a more energy efficient dryer at a seaweed processing facility, whilst several brewers and whisky distilleries will also receive funding for projects that aim to reduce the emissions that are created during energy-intensive manufacturing processes.

The projects awarded funding have the potential to reduce emissions by 40,482 tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent of the annual emissions from 17,000 households.

A further £160,000 has also been made available to conduct up to four engineering or feasibility studies into future projects that will aim to reduce emissions and increase efficiency within the sector by creating a pipeline of future projects.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the funding while visiting Graham’s Family Dairy, where previous SIETF funding allowed them to upgrade steam production and heat distribution infrastructure.

The First Minister said: “Reducing emissions in our manufacturing sector will be a crucial step in ensuring Scotland reaches its net zero target by 2045.

“I am pleased that the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund continues to support companies across the sector to embrace decarbonisation, improve efficiency and reduce their impact on the environment.

“This week is Scotland’s Climate Week, which puts a renewed focus upon the ongoing climate emergency and our efforts to tackle it. And as households and businesses struggle with rising energy costs, it has never been more important to support industry to become more energy efficient.

“I welcome the work that the Fund has already supported and I hope that many more businesses will apply in the future.”

Up to £34 million of Scottish Government funding will be made available through the lifetime of the five-year SIETF, which runs until 2026. The third round of applications is now live.

Robert B Graham, Managing Director at Graham’s Family Dairy said: “The SIETF programme has enabled us to accelerate our industrial decarbonisation programme, driving energy efficiencies and reducing waste.

“SIETF funding support has meant we have been able to deliver a number of process decarbonisation projects in parallel, to achieve scalable impact across our supply chain and share results to support Scottish industry & businesses with their journey to net zero.”

Peter Davison and Kieran Healey-Ryder from the Sustainability Leadership Team at Whyte & Mackay, which has secured second round funding, said: “As whisky makers we believe in a sustainable future for what we do here on Jura.

“This Scottish Government programme is a galvanising platform for industry to come together and solve for a green future right across these islands.

“This grant will accelerate our journey towards a sustainable future for whisky making here on Jura.”

The Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund was launched on 11 December 2020. The first recipients of SIETF were announced on 8 October 2021.

SIETF supports industrial sites with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future. It will improve the international competitiveness of many companies whilst protecting jobs.

The application window for the third round of projects will remain open until 18 November 2022.

The second round of recipients of SIETF funding are detailed below:

Name	Competition	Sector	Location	Technology
Grant offered: over £2m
DSM Nutritional Products	Deployment	Food and drink	East Ayrshire	Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) technology
Whyte & Mackay	Deployment	Food and drink	Argyle and Bute	Steam boiler with biomass fuel burner and flue gas purification
Grant offered: £1m – £2m
Pauls Malt	Deployment	Food and drink	Angus	The installation of a hot water network and CHP
Grant offered: £500k – £1m
Brewdog	Deployment	Food and drink	Aberdeenshire	Food grade (green) CO2 production via CO2 capture
Carbon Capture Scotland	Deployment	Dry Ice Production	Dumfries and Galloway	CO2 Feedstock Recycling
Uist Asco	Deployment	Manufacturing	Western Isles	Installation of a more efficient dryer with heat recovery
UPM	Deployment	Manufacturing	East Ayrshire	Replace existing pumps with three energy efficient turbo blowers
Grant offered: £250k – £500k
Diageo	Deployment	Food and Drink	Aberdeenshire	Installation of High Temperature Heat Pump
Macphie	Deployment	Food and Drink	Aberdeenshire	Conversion of oil fired steam plant to natural gas
Tennent’s	Deployment	Food and Drink	Glasgow City	Air compressor and spent grain transfer and smart air injection and spent grain removal technology
Grant offered: £100k – 250k
DSM Nutritional Products	Deployment	Food and drink	East Ayrshire	Heat recovery DCM evaporator and preheat feed effluent columns
Grant offered: under £125k (study only)
Diageo	Study	Food and drink	Fife	Natural gas to electricity transition
GlenAllachie Distillery	Study	Food and drink	Moray	Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) technology
Ineos	Study	Petrochemicals	Falkirk	Energy efficiency of pyrolysis furnaces
Tennents	Study	Food and drink	Glasgow City	Investigation of low carbon heat pump technology

Scotland’s Climate Week 2022: Edinburgh’s commitment

City council leader Cammy Day said yesterday: The climate crisis represents the single greatest threat to all humankind, and it is something that we must face together.

Whilst recent events such as the death of Her Majesty The Queen, the ongoing cost of living crisis, and events in Ukraine have dominated our thoughts and indeed the news cycle, we must now turn our efforts back to arguably the most pressing issue of our time. 

As Scotland’s Climate Week begins today, I would like to reiterate our commitment to becoming a net-zero city by 2030 and spearheading the climate fightback here in Scotland’s Capital. This is a cornerstone of the Council’s long-term goals, and I am determined that we will play our role in the wider climate effort.  

As Council Leader I will be attending the UK100’s Climate Leadership Academy this autumn. This programme for leaders across the UK will provide knowledge on decarbonisation, financial transition, energy, and nature/adaption.

I relish the opportunity to speak to other local government leaders from across the country and the political spectrum. The climate crisis is a collective problem and as such requires a collective and cooperative solution.

To achieve net-zero, everyone must play their part in driving climate action. A reduction in emissions needs to take place across all areas of society and business sectors. Overwhelmingly, the scientific evidence clearly shows that to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, the increasing global temperature must be limited to 1.5°C.

Here in Edinburgh, we are already on our way to becoming a greener city.

This summer we launched a citywide network of electric vehicle chargers located on streets and at park and ride sites, which will help people to choose cleaner, low emission electric cars.

In June the city was awarded silver status by the Sustainable Food Places Network, recognising the Capital’s pioneering work to promote healthy and sustainable food. The City of Edinburgh Council was also ranked third in the UK by Climate Emergency UK in their scorecard of local authority’s climate action plans.

Edinburgh’s ten-year City Mobility Plan aims to transform the way we move around the city, reducing emissions and air pollution, positively impacting public health, and tackling congestion amongst other benefits. Actions include projects like City Centre Transformation, Trams to Newhaven, George Street and First New Town, 20-Minute Neighbourhoods and the extension of 20mph speed limits, as well as behaviour change initiatives and seamless public transport ticketing.

At the start of #ScotClimateWeek I would like to call upon our fantastic residents, businesses, and partner organisations to renew their climate commitments. Our dedicated climate webpage  is filled with information on Edinburgh’s 2030 climate strategy, tracking our progress and climate action in the city. I would encourage everyone to educate themselves on the climate crisis and find out how small, individual changes can make a lasting impact.

Encouraging people to consider alternatives to travel by car like walking, wheeling, cycling and travel by public transport is essential to our net zero goals and we’ve set a target of reducing the kms travelled by car in Edinburgh by 30% by 2030. Last week we marked Car Free Day and this Sunday (2 October) we’ll be holding a fun event on Waverley Bridge to celebrate the occasion. The area will be transformed into an inclusive community hub of information, inspiration and activity encouraging people to consider more sustainable forms of transport.

There is also an Edinburgh Net-Zero events page and Climate Fringe Festival Calendar find out what’s going on in Edinburgh for Scotland’s Climate Week. 

We remain in the midst of a challenging fight against climate change, and the significant impacts that are already being felt across the globe. However, I remain confident that our capital city and its people will persevere and play their part in this shared effort to make our planet a safer, sustainable, and more prosperous place to live.