Greener and cheaper brewing with ECO2Brew project
A Danish company is in the process of patenting an innovative CO2 scrubbing technology that could produce environmental and financial benefits for the brewing industry. The technology, known as ECO2Brew, and first developed in Denmark in 2006, has been tested in full-scale production at the breweries of Danish beer Carlsberg. The test phase was conducted as part of a project supported by the Eco-Innovation Initiative of the European Union.
The technology captures the CO2 produced during the brewing process and prepares it for re-use, creating a circular process that minimises waste. Previous technologies have been water and energy intensive. ECO2Brew, however, uses no water and operates at reduced levels of energy consumption compared to conventional plants. The extracted, scrubbed CO2 exceeds industry standards and can be returned to the brewing process, or used in the production of other carbonated drinks.
The potential water saving at the Carlsberg brewery is 12.9 million litres annually. For a typical-sized plant, the water savings are estimated at 4 million litres per year, with the energy savings foreseen to be 40,000 kilowatt hours per year - reducing running costs by 15 percent.
For more information, visit the ECO2Brew website.