The application details proposals for an anaerobic digestion plant, water treatment plant, Co2 recovery plant and associated energy generation centre to be built at Balmacassie Drive.

It is part of a £14 million project which it is hoped will allow the site to become carbon neutral during 2022. The investment will include handling liquid residue from the brewery through efficient low-energy treatment and will also use clean heat.

A design statement submitted alongside the application states: “The on-site bioplant is designed to meet the requirements of site under current output conditions but also to accommodate future increases in brewery production over the next few years.

“The on-site effluent treatment plant at Ellon will handle all the site’s liquid residues.

“This includes draff, which is currently being sold to another distillery AD plant and other co-products and yeast residues that are all currently being hauled off-site.

“Individual feedstock supplies (e.g. the yeast or the draff) will need separate storage -hence the additional balance tanks. The plant will treat only grain-based residues from the brewery and will create minimum disruption to the brewery operation and to neighbouring businesses.

“The current arrangements for the handling of the process residues are not sustainable either in a carbon emissions sense or in financial terms.

“The proposed investment will help reduce the £2m annual disposal costs by circa 50%, as well as cutting other costs and increasing the resource efficiency of the site, as it aims to become carbon neutral during 2022.

“It will also help the business to meet the target set by the Scottish Government for meeting carbon Net Zero by 2045. It will also put the company at the forefront of the transition of the brewing sector to zero-carbon manufacturing and distribution.

“The plant will deliver a range of benefits for the site and the wider Brewdog business.”