Three decades ago, New Belgium Brewing Company introduced Coloradans to its homemade beer. Its offerings have since expanded to 30 different flavors, with Fat Tire being the most well-known. The company operates in all 50 states. However, its reputation extends beyond beer; it is also celebrated for its commitment to addressing climate change.
Now, the Ft. Colins-based brewery is teaming up with its local neighbor AtmosZero, which works with industrials to decarbonize their steam. That’s not an easy task, but it is unavoidable: We won’t meet our 2050 carbon-neutrality goals unless we decarbonize industrial process heat.
“Carbon reduction work is a story of innovation and is inherently full of stops and starts. New Belgium’s commitment to reducing our carbon footprint means investing in emerging technology that doesn’t always have a clear outcome,” Shaun Belongie, New Belgium’s chief executive, told me. “Our pursuit of a sustainable business, as it continues to grow, means taking a leap of faith into new tech and working with partners that allow us to run our operations at the scale we need at a lower carbon intensity.”
According to the International Energy Agency, 29% of the electricity sector is decarbonizing. However, only 10% of industrial process heat is doing so. That’s because there are not many commercial options. Industrial use comprises 26% of energy use worldwide. Steam produces 2.25 gigatons of CO2 annually or 6% yearly. So, if industrial steam generation were a country, it would be the fourth largest emitter after India (2.8 billion tons) and before Russia (1.65 billion tons).
Traditionally, industry burns gas to boil water to make steam. Or it burns coal to heat a boiler, both of which use a lot of fuel and create too many emissions. As for New Belgium, the steam used in its brewing operations accounts for 25% of its scope 1 and 2 emissions or those resulting from running its operations or buying energy from others. If a clean energy source powers the steam, Atmos’ technologies could significantly impact the brewery’s emissions.
To that end, the prototype of the AtmosZero boiler will be installed by year-end and is expected to fulfill 30%-40% of the brewery’s steam needs. New Belgium will assess the results, and if it works according to the plan, the aim is to produce all of the brewery’s steam demand. AtmosZero said it is easy to install—a prepackaged heat pump that is dropped in and scaled to meet demand.
“It’s less than a three-year payback, although it depends on how much customers are paying for electricity,” says AtmosZero Chief Executive Addison Stark in a chat with me. “We aim to get up to gigawatt scale by the end of this decade”—a move that will save companies “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
It creates two units of heat output for every unit of electricity that goes in, Stark adds. That’s because the heat pump captures one unit of heat from the ambient air and combines it with the input from electricity to equal two. To reduce CO2 emissions, the system ideally uses green electricity, but it can also use dirty grids and make the heat cleaner.
According to Andy Collins, New Belgium’s Carbon Neutral Engineer, AtmosZero’s heat pump design will deliver steam at roughly 200 degrees Celsius— 392 degrees Fahrenheit—using water, outdoor air, and significantly less electricity than conventional electric boilers.
Given a source of clean electricity, Collins says AtmosZero can provide steam 24/7 without modifying the existing brewery infrastructure and with no carbon footprint. The brewery is working with the City of Fort Collins Utilities to ensure the grid runs almost entirely on clean electricity.
New Belgium is taking steps within its four walls to reduce its climate impact, having become a certified zero-waste brewery. It includes installing solar panels and creating electricity from wastewater. It also captures waste heat and reuses it to generate power. Its main brewery in Ft. Collins is LEED certified, having achieved the highest possible status related to energy efficiency. At the same time, the company plans to source 100% renewable electricity for all production facilities through onsite installations and renewable power procurement by 2030.
The brewery’s immediate focus is on its four boilers. If the pilot proves fruitful, the brewery will change the remaining boilers and gradually replace the natural gas used to make steam with renewable electricity.
“Our breweries are built for steam,” says Walker Modic, New Belgium’s Director of Environmental Programs, in a conversation with me. “There are not a lot of answers, and we are looking for partners who can push the envelope. Steam has an outsized impact on our scope 1 and 2 emissions.”
New Belgium says that its Fat Tire brand is already carbon neutral—an enthusiasm that it wants to extend to its entire beer-making operations. The company is currently focusing on decarbonizing its steam, and if its strategy succeeds, it could serve as a model for other industrial enterprises to follow.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2024/09/12/toasting-new-belgium-brewing-for-its-climate-change-solutions/