Scotch whiskey producers going green

This summary is from PERC, the Property and Environment Research Center, the font of free-market environmentalism, market-based approaches to environmental conundrums and all kinds of good things. I haven't been to one of their seminars since 1984, but I cherish the memory -- challenging concepts, good fellowship, good food, and marvelous scenery and recreational opportunities at a Montana dude ranch.

How could anyone resist a story of good Scotch and good stewardship? The worldwide downturn may affect this initiative negatively before long, but it turns out that rich Asians, especially in China, love good Scotch, and consumption worldwide has increased 15 percent in the last 10 years, leading to expanding the industry. So in Speyside, Scotland, a consortium of distillers plans a biomass-powered heating and electricity plant. It will be powered by wood chips and something called draff, a solid grain product that is removed from the mash before fermentation, and is expected to produce enough electricity to power the plants and 9,000 homes. They're also adding a plant to turn pot ale, another by-product that had previously been discarded, into a concentrated organic fertilizer.

For more first-hand information, go here. For more on Scotch, my favorite whisky, in general, try here and here.