The amount of renewable energy used by craft brewers has increased to 8% from 6% in the last three years, the Brewers Association reports in its third Sustainability Benchmarking Report.
Some of that renewable energy – about 1%, BA said – is from on-site renewables such as biogas and some is purchased through utility renewable or green energy sources. Energy costs comprise about 70% of utility costs for breweries.
Using on-site renewable electric generation, biofuels and purchased green electricity, survey participants avoided at least 26 million pounds of CO2 emissions over the three-year period.
Survey participants are focused on improving efficiencies as the primary way to reduce CO2 emissions and positioning for long-term success.
The report recommends that breweries focus first on reducing beer loss. Minimizing beer loss “can have positive impacts on efficiency improvement and profitability,” it says.
Routine maintenance can also make a huge difference, including preventive boiler maintenance, frequent steam leak detection and repair, reducing compressed air system pressure as low as practical, observing and controlling water leaks and preventive maintenance on chillers and coolers.