Sign in to view
member only content

Regular Springwise readers may recall a story we ran back in 2008 featuring the use of waste Coors beer to power General Motors cars at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Operating along similar lines, PurposeEnergy is a company that turns brewery waste into a natural gas alternative. Using a proprietary technology it calls a Biphase Orbicular Biodigester system, Massachusetts-based PurposeEnergy digests the hops, barley and yeast leftover from the beer-making process. Typically, brewers have to pay to have those byproducts hauled away. PurposeEnergy’s process produces a substantial amount of methane, which can then be used to help power the brewery itself, such as by processing its wastewater — a function that would commonly be powered by natural gas. The brewery’s waste is then reduced, as its natural gas consumption and costs are too. After a successful pilot with Yuengling’s brewery in Florida, PurposeEnergy’s technology is now in use at Vermont’s Magic Hat Brewery, where it reduces the company’s carbon footprint while saving it USD 2 per barrel of brewed beer, according to a report on Inhabitat. One to partner with or emulate in beer-loving areas near you? (Related: Laundromat reaps solar rewards.) Spotted by: Casey Brennan