Pernod Ricard-owned Absolut Vodka has phased out fossil fuels at its Swedish distillery and is now entirely powered by renewable energy sources.
The brand had committed to making its distillery – based in Nöbbelöv, close to Åhus in southern Sweden – fossil-free back in 2020, with a plan to eliminate fossil fuels at the site before the end of 2025.
The brand noted that it has now achieved this goal a year earlier than its original target.
Anna Schreil, VP Operations, The Absolut Group, commented: ”We are immensely proud that Absolut’s distillery is now not only fossil free but that this goal has been achieved ahead of schedule.
“Running a fossil free distillery on this scale is no small feat. The final step – replacing the LPG, which has accounted for a fraction of the distillery’s energy use – is a continuation of years of hard work.
“After reaching net carbon neutrality more than a decade ago, this latest achievement pushes us further towards our goal of a fully carbon-neutral product by 2030.”
At the brand’s distillery, 92% of energy from production comes from certified green electricity, while the remaining 7% is from green fuel that is made in-house using waste spirits.
The brand said that since last year, less than 1% of its energy consumption came from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Moreover, since last month, in September, that percentage has been replaced by bio-LPG.
Under normal circumstances, Absolut produces more than 100 million litres of alcohol per year – now entirely without the emission of fossil fuels.
Absolut’s scope one and two emissions (which include direct and indirect emissions in relation to its own production) fell by 103 tonnes in the brand’s 2024 fiscal year, which was the lowest level since Absolut started measuring its carbon emissions two decades ago. The carbon efficiency of its distillery and bottling in 2024 was 1g CO₂/l vodka in comparison to 17g CO2/l vodka in fiscal 2023.
The distillery has been net carbon neutral for more than 10 years and the move to go fossil-free is part of Absolut’s wider commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Absolut produces its own raw spirit from scratch to make its vodka and uses wheat from local farms and water from one of northern Europe’s biggest natural aquifers.
Some of its other sustainable efforts in the past years have seen the brand sell a paper-based bottle (the first global spirits brand to do so in the UK) and turning to hydrogen energy to make its glass bottles.
In the October 2023 issue of The Spirits Business magazine, we questioned how luxury spirit brands can do more to reduce their environmental footprint.
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Author: Rupert Hohwieler
