New Belgium Brewing company in Fort Collins, CO doesn’t just produce mouthwatering libations for all of legal age to enjoy, they strive to be energy efficient and socially responsible. For almost ten years New Belgium has been using wind power and water sheds to create energy for the brewing process.
From New Belgium’s sustainability page:
“In 1998, New Belgium took an employee vote and became the country’s first brewery to subscribe to wind energy. The decision came after our engineers, looking to minimize CO2 emissions, discovered that city’s power plant, which supplied the brewery with electricity, created the bulk of our emissions. Employee owners voted to dip into their bonus pool to help finance the conversion.â€
They also use watersheds in which grey water from the beer making process is transferred to closed pools filled with anaerobic bacteria. These microbes feed of the organic residue from the brewing process and create methane gas that is used to create electric and thermal energy for the brewery.
New Belgium gets 30 percent of its energy from the watershed process and the other 70 percent from wind power, meaning no fossil fuels are burned in creating their golden goodness.
When a company turns out a quality product and is as forward thinking as New Belgium loyal consumers are sure to be found. Companies like this provide an encouraging example for others to follow. Cheers New Belgium.
New Belgium via Great Green Gadgets
One Comment
They make some damn good beers. Sure I’ll have an occasional Fat Tire but their 1554, Mothership (organic), and Biere de Mars (on hiatus as they tweek the recipe) are some of the best beers out there.
Plus being just a few miles away, they help me cut down on my food…er, beer miles.