Sierra Nevada Brewery: Beer Powered by the Sun
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 09.13.07
By the end of this month, the Sierra Nevada Brewery will be almost entirely off the grid. Already, the brewery has four fuel cells operating 70 to 75 percent of the facility's power, according to Cheri Chastain, the company's sustainability coordinator.
In a few short weeks, the solar panels they've been installing all summer will be ready to capture some rays, enabling the brewery to approach 100 percent self-sufficiency when the sun is at its peak. (Chastain expects the brewery to be around 80 percent efficient during off-peak hours, at night, or on cloudy days.)
Already a model of sustainability, the brewery also focuses efforts in recycling, heat recovery, carbon-dioxide recovery, water conservation, energy efficiency, and byproduct recycling. Now that's what we call one green brewski. ::Paradise Post
See also: ::How Green is Your Beer?, ::Solar-Powered Beer at Anderson Valley Brewing Company, and ::Global Warming Beer: Greenland Brews with Melting Ice Cap
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That's terrific! Anderson Valley Brewery has long been solar (and in general, very green), and I've enjoyed their beer for a long time for that reason, and because they make great beer. It's great to see that another beer I like, that has a much wider distribution zone, is going the same direction.
Cool... now, where to source organic beer?