Drink Beer, Make Fuel
by Jennifer Berry
Published on February 5th, 2009
2 Comments
A brewing company in Chico, Calif. is adapting a new system at its brewery that will make its own high-quality ethanol fuel from discarded beer yeast.
The Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., working with the E-Fuel Corporation, will start testing the system in the second quarter of this year, and hopes to move to full-scale ethanol production in third quarter.
“This has the potential to be a great thing for the environment and further our commitment to be becoming more energy independent,” said Ken Grossman, founder and president, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Currently, Sierra Nevada resells almost 1.6 million gallons of unusable “bottom of the barrel” beer yeast waste to local farmers to be used as dairy feed. The waste contains 5 to 8 percent alcohol content, including enough yeast and nutrients to enable the ethanol system, the MicroFueler, to raise that level to 15 percent alcohol, allowing for an increased ethanol yield.
“Creating ethanol from discarded organic waste is an excellent example of how the MicroFueler can help eliminate our reliance on the oil industry infrastructure. This is especially true when considering Americans reportedly discard 50 percent of all agricultural farmed products,” said Tom Quinn, E-Fuel founder and CEO. “Using a waste product to fuel your car is friendlier to the environment and lighter on your wallet, easily beating prices at the gas pump.”
The Technology
The EFuel100 MicroFueler is the world’s first portable ethanol micro-refinery system. The system also comes in a household appliance-sized unit, making it possible “for homeowners and small businesses to safely and cost-effectively create their own fuel, on-site,” according to the company.
Valerie Reddemann
posted on February 5th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
As a fellow green business in Chico, CA I can say first hand what remarkable strides Sierra Nevada is making in their commitment to be not only energy independent but also a truly sustainable company. Everything from solar panels on their parking structure, to a state of the art methane digester, to treating their employees exceptionally well, they are consistently innovating. It’s impressive and they are a fantastic role model. Not to mention they make outstanding beer. I should know – I drink a lot of it ;)
Dan
posted on February 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I love Sierra Nevada its the best beer ever!