When I started homebrewing about 25 years ago, I quickly learned that beer-making is a very energy and water intensive operation. Barley goes through multiple processes - milling, malting, mashing, and boiling - all of which require a combination of mechanical energy and intense heat. Brewing requires a lot of cleaning, sanitizing, and rinsing; smaller batches use more water per unit of beer produced. Many breweries, including some large mega-breweries, are doing their part to use renewable resources and minimize water usage.
The NFL plays its annual Pro Bowl today in Hawaii. Needless to say, a considerable amount of beer will be consumed at the event and in living rooms around the country. Hawaii’s own Kona Brewing Company is doing its part to brew that beer in a sustainable way. Let’s look into Kona’s “sustaina-brew.”
Solar Power
Kona’s brewpub in Kailua-Kona, on the big island of Hawaii, includes a 229 kW grid-tied rooftop photovoltaic array that’s been operational since 2010. On average, the array produces 900 kWh of electricity per day, roughly 60% of the total energy used by the facility.
Images courtesy of Sunetric
The brewery recently announced that it is expanding operations, which will require a larger facility. They’ll soon break ground on an updated brewery, just down the street from their existing location, which will include another PV array. Its size and configuration have yet to be determined, but as photovoltaic prices have dropped significantly over the past six years, it’s safe to say that the new system will dwarf the existing one.
Waste-to-Energy
Kona has contracted with PurposeEnergy, whose patented technology will allow Kona to use brewing byproducts to produce electricity, heat, and clean water. PurposeEnergy’s bioreactor uses an anaerobic process to convert solid and liquid waste, such as spent grains and yeast slurry, into biofuel.
All byproducts from the brewing process are fed into a liquefier. Then a multi-step process turns the waste into biofuel, clean water, and anaerobic liquor. The biofuel can be fed into a gas turbine generator or a combined heat and power (CHP) co-gen plant to produce both heat and electricity. The anaerobic liquor is fed back into the waste stream to help it reach the optimum pH levels without the need for artificial chemical treatments.
In addition to generating much of its own energy - up to 50% of its total usage - the updated Kona Brewery will also include a state-of-the-art high-efficiency craft brewing system designed by IDD Process & Packaging. Check out this video for more on the High Efficiency Brewing System:
IDD Process & Packaging - HEBS from Mike Gan on Vimeo.
The combination of waste-to-energy and a more efficient brewing process will allow Kona to brew beer with less than half of the water that a typical craft brewery might use.
Education
The word “technology” means “tools and techniques to enhance human performance.” Too often we focus on the tools, assuming they’ll do the work for us. But energy management is more than a set of machines; it’s also a set of processes. Every good energy management plan includes employee education, so Kona builds sustainability training into all of its employee orientation sessions. The company also offers incentives to encourage workers to adopt more sustainable lifestyle practices, such as biking, walking, or riding mass transit to work.
Sustainability and beer are two of my favorite subjects, so it’s always a double treat when I get to blend my hobby with my profession. And now that today's writing is done, I think I’ll go pour myself a cold one. Cheers!