Brewing and the Environment by Susan O'Connor Hello to Bob and all the readers of my favorite website, BeerNexus (if I flatter them maybe they'll publish my article). While there are many great articles on BeerNexus, too few focus on some of the environmental aspects of brewing. As you might have guessed, I love beers but I'm also a big environmentalist. Sometimes the two aren't as compatible as you might thing. I was disappointed to learn that the beer-brewing process is sometimes incredibly water-intensive. Beer is a global business behemoth, a US$300 billion market, with a huge water footprint, often in regions hit by water scarcity. The good news is that many small local companies and even some large multinational beer companies have succeed with sustainability efforts from energy efficiency to the reuse and recycling of beer ingredients and packaging. The most important and yet challenging metric, however, is the reduction of a brewing company's water use. From the cultivation of the barley and hops necessary to brew the drink to the final bottling of the product, it takes an exponential amount of water to make beer. Some estimates say it takes 300 total litres of water to make one litre of beer, others suggests ratios anywhere from 60 to 180 to one. Whatever the total water requirement may be, brewing companies have more control over beer's water footprint once raw materials arrive at a plant. The average bottling plant's water footprint is a ratio of about five to six litres to one litre of beer, but that rate is in decline. Companies including SABMiller (even if you don't like their beer you have to give them their due) have promised to increase their bottling plants' water efficiency. In South Africa, SAB's water-to-beer ratio stands at about 4.2, that is down from 4.6 in 2008 and the company promises a 3.5 ratio in 2015. Anheuser Busch-Inbev, the global giant that owns Budweiser, Beck's, and Stella Artois, also has an aggressive goal to lower its water footprint worldwide to a 3.5 ratio (now it stands at 4.04). One AB-Inbev bottling plant in Cartersville, Georgia already boasts a water efficiency ratio of 3.04. The big guys are definitely on the right side of this issue, if you ask me. Nevertheless, with 98% of their beers' water footprint occurring before the brewing process begins, sustainability experts and community activists are urging all beer companies to lean on their agricultural suppliers to reduce water consumption. The beer companies have responded and are now more proactive in addressing water issues that will only fester in the coming decades. As is the case with the bottling companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi, water scarcity in developing economies is a huge challenge for brewing companies. While a beer's brand may have a loyal following in regions as diverse as South Africa or China, it only takes one drought or water shortage to foment local anger when these plants take on an even larger share of a community's water supply. Forget water recycling projects or new pasteurising techniques: the agricultural supply chain is now on many breweries' sustainability agendas. One SABMiller subsidiary tried a simple retrofit of an irrigation pump so to disperse water closer to the ground at a low pressure. The results: 450,000 gallons of water are being saved daily. Projects like this not only build trust within local communities, but can ameliorate the impact a large brewery can have on a local community when a drought hits – crucial because a large bottling plant can consume 10 to 30% of a municipality's water supply. From more efficient water harvesting to scaled wastewater recycling, breweries must ramp up to meet the mounting challenge of the increasing global demand of beer by using less water. Lastly that brings me to the need for clean water. Clean water is essential to more than great-tasting beer –- it's critical for public health and the health of a wide range of industries. Responsible safeguards protect our product from upstream pollution and help us protect our downstream neighbors. To that end, many craft breweries and their bigger brethren here in the USA have taken the Clean Water Pledge to actively support and lobby for restoring the Clean Water Act's safeguards for critical streams and wetlands. Guess I should get off my soapbox now Bob. Time to have a beer from my favorite brewery, New Belgium, which in addition to making great stuff, has been rated #1 for its unique use of water treatment processes to generate electricity for the brewery, sun tubes for lighting, and repurposing brewing by-products. Thanks..... and please recycle those empty beer bottles and cans! ----------- Susan many thanks for sending in you article. You've got us all thinking about what we can do to join with those brewers who are working hard to preserve our precious natural resources . Great job! I'd like to invite everyone to send me their own columns about anything related to beer just as Susan did.I'll select the best ones and publish them here. So join in and get writing! Cheers! Bob |
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