Saving the planet one tot at a time

Whisky, playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, is “like liquid sunshine”. Now, that “solar power” in the golden nectar has been harnessed for a new, environmentally friendly use.

At the Glenfiddich Distillery at Dufftown in Scotland, draff – one of the by-products of whisky making – is combined with a yellow, beer-like liquid called pot ale, another residue of the distilling process, to produce a low-carbon biogas.

This is primarily methane and is being used to power trucks which have been specially adapted to run on the gas.

The distillery claims the biogas is a renewable resource which creates an ultra-low carbon footprint. Each biofuel truck will save about 250 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.

Now, the drinkers of Glenfiddich can bask in the warm glow of self-righteousness, knowing that every tot helps save the planet, Jimmy!

We await the next step in the green crusade – to preserve the planet’s dwindling water resources by refusing to have your Scotch “on the rocks”…

And while you’re on that planet-saving mission, you dedicated Scotch drinkers, don’t forget the advice of comedian WC Fields: “Always carry a flagon of whisky in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”