Filed under: Biodiesel
Colorado brewery turning waste CO2 from beer into biodiesel
The reason carbonated beverages have their name is the bubbles of carbon dioxide that are emitted. One of the byproducts of the beer brewing process is carbon dioxide gas. Now an environmentally- conscious brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, New Belgium Brewery is hooking up with nearby Solix Biofuels to make use of the waste CO2. The 5,000 metric tonnes of CO2 that New Belgium produces annually will be piped over to the Solix facility and pumped into their bioreactor to grow algae. The algae will then be processed into biodiesel fuel. The beauty of the normally scummy algae is that can yield up to 10,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre compared to 50 to 100 gallons per acre for soybeans. [Source: Rocky Mountain News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ccfoo242 9:53PM (2/15/2007)
Finally, a way for me to do my part in saving the environment. I volunteer to help make more gas...
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ksmith 9:16AM (2/16/2007)
NBB makes some excellent beers. They're probably best known for their Fat Tire brew, which unfortunately is rather hard to find east of Mississippi.
They're a very much and environmental-conscious company. After working there for a year, they give employees a bike. They also let employees take their kids and dogs to work. (Kids and beer? Oh well)
I tried to take a tour last week when I was out there, but they were closed on Sundays. We called them anyway and they said that Sunday was for hanging out with family and enjoying a frosty beverage. Cant' argue with that.
Here's a quick, but interesting, write-up on them.
http://e-businessethics.com/NewBelgiumCases/NBB-BreweryFun.pdf
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Mark Maynard 4:20PM (2/16/2007)
Brilliant. Inspired. Just the kind of thinking we need if we're going to make it. Thanks, Sam.
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