Green beer! And it’s not even St. Patrick’s Day.
May 3rd, 2007 by Matt
I’m not a big fan of Foster’s beer. Give me an ice-cold bottle of Labatt Blue, or if you’re feeling generous, and I’m feeling decadent, hand me a glass of Chimay. But Foster’s is up to something so good they’re tempting me to make the occasional switch. Check it out, courtesy of Live Science:
Scientists and Australian beer maker Foster’s are teaming up to generate clean energy from brewery waste water — by using sugar-consuming bacteria.
The [microbial] fuel cell [being built] is essentially a battery in which bacteria consume water-soluble brewing waste such as sugar, starch and alcohol. The battery produces electricity plus clean water, said Prof. Jurg Keller, the university’s wastewater expert. The complex technology harnesses the chemical energy that the bacteria releases from the organic material, converting it into electrical energy.
The upshot is that this sucker will only produce a scant 2 kilowatts of electro-juice (about enough for one home), but it’s main focus is as a means of treating massive amounts of waste water. The current is just a bonus.
As someone who grew up a stone’s throw from the Niagara Power Project, I can’t help but be a huge fan of other green technologies — it’s in my blood, people. And I find it comforting that scientists everywhere are increasingly using their collective IQs to find creative, eco-friendly solutions to the vast problems made by the products and services we rely on (or in this case, indulge in).
Why is water treatment so important in terms of beer?
Well, first it’s important to know this: according the World Resources Institute, as of 1995, “41 percent of the world’s population, or 2.3 billion people, live in river basins under water stress.” This number will leap to 48% by 2025. Plus, according to recent research we’ve compiled, clean drinking water is in short supply, even in the U. S. of A.
And here’s the skinny on beer production:
- It can take 1,500 gallons of water to process one barrel of beer.
- There are 31 gallons in a barrel.
- Some breweries have been able to reduce their water usage significantly. The Mad River Brewing Company of Blue Lake, California, “has reduced the amount of water [used to make one gallon of beer] from 14 gallons to an average of 7.9 gallons.” The thing is, that’s still a lot of water.
So, here’s props to Foster’s and the scientists at Australia’s University of Queensland for actively pursuing a solution to a problem that probably flies under most of our (occasionally beer-goggled) radars.
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