Help Environment - Drink Fat Tire The Bozone - September 2009
New Belgium Brewery is serious about sustainability. Besides being the very first brewery in the United States to endorse the use of sustainable cups, they follow the ‘three Rs’ (reduce, reuse and recycle). To reduce, they use 50% less water than the industry average, and an energy efficient brewing process with equipment that uses 65% less energy. Their building is lit with solar tubes. On the reuse front, their building is built from reclaimed lumber and their furniture from reclaimed materials. They send their spent grain (used in the brewing process) to a local cattle farm for feed. As for recycling, they are able to divert 98% of their waste from the landfill! Partners Kim & Jeff Jordan started the brewery in their basement sixteen years ago following strict rules — have fun, brew world class beer and be environmental stewards. Since their organic beginnings they have grown it to be the third-largest mid-sized brewer in the country and a model for business sustainability. Next time you’ve had a few and want to do some net-surfing, check out the-carbon-footprint-of-fat-tire-amber-ale-2008-public-dist-rfs-pdf. There’s a whole report on the entire life-cycle of the popular ale. Following is an excerpt on just the transportation breakdown: The CO2 used by New Belgium Brewery to carbonate Fat Tire is produced at the Dyno Nobel ammonia plant in Cheyenne, Wyoming. From there, it is shipped to 1918 Heath Parkway, Fort Collins, Colorado and distributed to New Belgium by General Air. Because of the short distribution distance, it is here assumed that food-grade, liquefied CO2 is shipped directly from Dyno Nobel to New Belgium on eighteen wheeled tanker trucks, which typically have a capacity of 26,000 liters or 29,780 kg of liquefied CO2. Assuming 6.3 mpg of diesel #2 fuel and an emission factor of 11.78 kg CO2 for the production and point of consumption of a gallon of diesel fuel, the transportation of a full load of CO2 on this route results in 81.88 kilograms of CO2 emissions. New Belgium uses 54.5 g of carbon dioxide to carbonate a six-pack of Fat Tire, the transport of which corresponds to 0.2 gram of CO2 emitted per six-pack.
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