I am a great fan of the Scottish ice cream manufacturer, Mackie’s, since tasting their products on holiday. Their ice cream has a great creamy taste and is even available in the South East of England miles away from their Aberdeenshire factory.
I knew, already, that they had impressive renewable energy credentials with three 800kW wind turbines supplying 70% of the firm’s energy needs at its 1,600-acre Aberdeenshire site as well as being able to export 62% of their output to the national grid & supplemented by 50kW of solar panels.
What I didn’t know is that they are planning to install an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, which would reduce reliance on wind or sunshine, allowing the company to power their operations using only on-site renewable energy. The proposed plans, developed in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University’s Biofuel Business Programme, would see a 250kW AD facility built at the company’s dairy farm.
It is rewarding to see that Mackie’s are not resting on their initial success with wind and solar renewable energy but moving forward with this new initiative. This development should be an encouragement to all those seeking to improve the environment.
More information about Mackie’s can be found at http://www.mackies.co.uk/