Green Beer (And It's Not Even St. Patty's Day)

I had the real honor today of attending the Sacramento Valley Forum, an annual conference put on by the Great Valley Center. This year's forum was titled "50 People in a Room...The Power of Collaboration" and addressed how concerned citizens like you and me can work within our communities to help make them more sustainable. I learned that although change begins with us as individuals, we must find ways to engage others within the community...and gain their support...before change can finally occur. And with environmental issues such as urban growth, farmland protection and energy consumption, change towards more sustainable practices can take years, if not decades before the fruits of our labors are finally realized. Patience is definitely a key virtue in any grassroots movement.

After the forum was concluded, I got the added bonus of taking a sustainability tour of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, where the forum was held. Sierra Nevada is one of the leading breweries in America to incorporate sustainable practices into their manufacturing process. Our guide began the tour at the power source running the entire brewery: 4 hydrogen fuel cell generators that were installed back in 2005. Both natural gas and methane (a biproduct created from the bacteria cleaning their recycled wastewater) are pumped into the fuel cells, which extract hydrogen from the gases. The hydrogen is then combined with oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. The electricity supplies power throughout the plant while the generated heat is used to heat the water for brewing. By converting over to fuel cell technology, Sierra Nevada is saving money on electricity, but on the downside, it is now spending money on natural gas. It will take about 7 years before the brewery can recover the costs of investing in fuel cell technology.

Inside the bottling facility, Sierra Nevada has added natural sky lights to reduce the amount of energy used. And about 3 weeks ago, the brewery added solar panel arrays above the adjacent parking lot to supply additional electricity. Sierra Nevada also collects CO2 gases that are generated during the fermentation process to power the plant's bottling machinery. It also takes the spent trub (grain, hops and yeast) and recycles it into the feed for the dairy and beef cows at the California State University–Chico farm. The manure from the cows is then used to fertilize the 3 acre experimental hops garden (soon to be expanded to 9 acres in 2008) located beside the brewery. Overall, Sierra Nevada has about a 97% diversion rate, which is the percentage of total waste that the brewery recycles.

Sierra Nevada is also helping to reduce carbon emissions by focusing on how it distributes its beer and supplies. It uses freight trains to transport its wheat and barley down from Canada and its hops from Washington state. Then trailer trucks will pick up the supplies and drive the 20 miles to Chico to deliver them. Sierra Nevada is currently looking into cheaper, cleaner biofuels to help power its local fleet of semi-trailer trucks.