Dive Summary:
- Craft breweries have always been known to do things against the grain. Today, more and more of them are cutting energy and water consumption significantly in the name of sustainability.
- New Belgium, Abita and Sierra Nevada are but three of an astonishingly large group of these breweries who have made significant investments into their sustainability.
- These include more efficient mash systems, solar panels and waste water management, all of which combine to make the craft beer industry one of the 'greenest' industries around.
From the article:
Perhaps one of the best examples of one of these sustainable breweries would be New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire, 1554 and La Folie. In 2010, New Belgium partnered with the City of Fort Collins, Colorado State University and other energy-focused companies in a grant from the Department of Energy to demonstrate 20% to 30% peak electric load reduction. Using the grant funds, New Belgium commissioned a 200 kW photovoltaic array on top of their packing hall. At the time it was installed, it produced close to 264,000 kWh each year, more than 3% of the brewery’s total electricity. New Belgium also gets an additional 14% of its electricity from processing their own waste. At its on-site process water treatment plant, New Belgium uses microbes to clean all of its production wastewater. Methane gas is then harvested and piped back to the brewery, where it powers a 292 kW combined-heat-andpower engine.
