Scotland invests £1m in whisky carbon capture firm

A SCOTTISH company specialising in capturing CO2 from the whisky industry has secured £1m (US$1.3m) in public funding to expand its operations across the UK and Europe.

The Carbon Removers, based near Dumfries, received the investment from the South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE). The company said the funding would support plans to scale its modular carbon capture technology, with the long-term ambition of removing up to 1m t/y of CO2 by 2030.

The firm focuses on biogenic CO2 sources, including whisky distilleries, farms, breweries and paper mills, targeting emissions that are often dispersed and difficult to capture using conventional large-scale systems.

Modular capture

The Carbon Removers has developed a modular carbon capture system, known as Nimmons900, which can be deployed at smaller industrial and waste sites. Captured CO2 is liquefied and transported in cryogenic ISO tanks for permanent storage.

For sequestration, the company has signed a deal with a Danish storage operator to store up to 300,000 t of CO2 underground, with operations expected to begin this year. In the UK, captured CO2 is currently being used in building materials through mineralisation processes. The company aims to permanently store CO2 in the North Sea by 2033.

Net zero Scotland

SOSE said the investment would support the south of Scotland in its net zero transition, specifically in the agriculture, whisky and bioenergy sectors.

Scotland has set an ambitious target to become net zero by 2045 and is currently consulting on its climate change plan covering the period from 2026 to 2040.

Martin Valenti, SOSE’s director of investment and sustainable enterprise, said: “With the south of Scotland being the nation’s Natural Capital Innovation Zone, we see companies such as The Carbon Removers as vital to helping drive forward innovation and also helping attract responsible investment to benefit our region, and the rest of Scotland.”