In our last article, Craft Beer Brewers Go Green Part 1, we looked at the use of wind power in the brewing industry. The fact is that only scratches the surface when it comes to green efforts in the brewing industry. Craft Brewers have incorporated a variety of methods to go green.
Note: This is the second in a series of several articles that will highlight breweries with green practices. Each article will focus on one or two different methods for sustainability, such as recycling or wind power, and then highlight one brewery that has gone above and beyond the call of duty in protecting our world. Enjoy!
In Part 2 of Craft Beer Brewers Go Green, we'll focus on how breweries are able to reduce, reuse and recycle. We'll take a look at New Belgium, Full Sail, Shipyard and Stone Brewing
Full Sail brewery compresses their work week into four 10-hour shifts, reducing power consumption and water use by 20%. Full Sail installed energy-efficient lighting and air compressors in their brewery to reduce energy use by 400,000 kWh each year. In an effort to reduce water consumption they've implementing practices that reduce water consumption by 3.1 million gallons each year.
Full Sail Brewery in Oregon gets honors from state & city & lists how they are environmentally friendly including using 100% recycled cardboard in their packaging, office paper supplies, their wooden mallets & glass too.
Shipyard BreweryThe Shipyard Brew Pub converted its facility at the Eliot Commons complex to green technologies using solar and other energy efficient systems that meet Efficiency Maine standards. A solar system supplies energy for heated sidewalks; interior, exterior, and parking lot lighting. They recapture heat from refrigeration motors use preheated water and use and cooking systems that utilize steam generated by natural gas.
"Last year, we worked with Efficiency Maine to Œgo green¹ at Federal Jack¹s Restaurant and Brew Pub in Kennebunk and, this year, we decided to do the same in Eliot," said company president Fred Forsley. "Efficiency Maine is a great asset for Maine business and the environment. It¹s a win-win."
In February of 2008 Stone had a 276.9-kilowatt AC photovoltaic solar panel system installed on the roof of their building. The $2.6 million dollar system includes 1,561 200-Watt Photo-Voltaic Modules, and produces about 30% of the brewery’s total electricity.
New Belgium recycles in some very interesting but unconventional ways. Like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium has really taken going green to the next level. Their efforts to consume less began back in the 90's when most of us weren't even thinking about things like wind and solar power as real options.
The interior of the brewery is beetle kill pine. Summit County, CO, anticipates that mountain pine beetles will kill 98% of their lodgepole pines. These fallen trees are used in the interior of the brewery. New Belgium also helps make fish food...yes we said fish food. The company Oberon has installed a small treatment plant next to the brewery to process wastewater to harvest sludge to create a high protein fish food for aqua-farms. T
Brewing: During wort boil, the steam exits the kettle through a stack and into a heat exchanger which continually extracts heat from the steam vapor and holds it in an energy storage tank. During the next batch, the stored heat helps the wort to boil very quickly, allowing them to use very little primary energy.
Energy Production: The methane produced by process water treatment is used to fuel a combined heat and power engine—or co-gen—which creates electricity and heat for the brewery. When the co-gen is running full-time, it can supply 15% of their electrical needs.
In 1999, New Belgium became the largest private consumer of wind-power electricity at that time and the first wind-powered brewery. The wind premium increased their cost per kilowatt-hour by 57%, it impacted employee’s profit sharing pool. They asked employees: wind-power or not? They unanimously voted for clean energy. All we can say is WOW.
New Belgium is also part of 1% For the Planet, which means that, through donations and fund-raisers, 1% of their revenue goes to environmental non-profits.
Click for more info on New Belgium's green efforts and ways you can help.