According to The Scotsman, Mackie's of Scotland has bought 3 wind turbines for £2.5 million to produce ice creams made with 100% renewable energy. The two new turbines ('Ice' and 'Cream') will join the existing one ('Mackies') and make enough 'green' electricity to produce every tub of ice cream sold by the company -- with enough surplus to power 1,000 homes. Mackie's, which wants to become the greenest company in Britain by 2009, also plans to invest in a biofuel plant and use solar power in the near future. A question remains: will this change the taste of their ice creams?
The wind turbines installed at the family farm at Mackie's have been built by Danish company Vestas. Above is a diagram showing the components of the V52 wind turbine which can generate 850 kW of power. Here is a link to the V52-850 kW brochure from which the above illustration has been extracted. (Credit: Vestas)
Mackie's motto is "ice-cream made the way it should be" and the company says their ice creams are made with fresh milk, cream and 100% renewable energy. Here is a quote from Maitland "Mac" Mackie, the managing director: "This makes good sense for our business because our consumers have told us that it is important for them to know that their favourite ice-cream is made with 100 per cent renewable energy."
On this page about the use of wind turbines, he offers more comments. "We are keen to find new ways to cut our energy consumption alongside our other environmental projects. The investment in wind turbines makes good sense for our business because our consumers have told us that it is important for them to know that our ice cream is made with 100% renewable energy. It also makes good financial sense, we are a rural business which needs significant power levels and will continue to need more as we grow."
To celebrate this increase in renewable energy production, a limited edition tub of Mackies ice-cream will soon be in stores. The ice cream tubs will show a wind turbine icon with the declaration "made with 100% renewable energy". And if you buy one of these ice creams, you'll get a chance to win a free year of green electricity -- providing you live in the UK.
The company adds some details about its previous experience with the first wind turbine installed 2 years ago. "Scotland is the windiest country in Europe and wind turbines are forecast to generate electricity for approximately 80% of the time. This wind turbine starts making electricity with wind of around 10 miles per hour and only has to shut down in gale conditions. In the first year, the wind turbine has worked very well and has provided over half of the electricity requirements for Mackie's - impressive when our requirement is almost 3,000,000 KWH a year."
Now that Mackie's has 3 of these turbines, it will be able to sell its surplus energy to Good Energy, a supplier of 100% renewable electricity to homes and businesses in England, Wales and Scotland.
Sources: Frank Urquhart, The Scotsman, June 30, 2007; and various websites
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