Back in September of 2022, we took delivery of some spiffy new tanks on the “mural side” of our brewery. Over the last several years, we’ve been priming these tanks and moving to become “CO2 self-sufficient.” What exactly does that mean? In a nutshell, it means that all of the CO2 needed in our processes will be produced by our beer fermentation.
“We started by looking at every way we use CO2 and asked ourselves if we could maintain the same quality standards while using less CO2,” says brewmaster John Trogner. With this goal in mind, our brewing and packaging teams took to the task of surveying our daily usage. They found opportunities on how we could reduce our CO2 reliance and checked for any leaks during typical brewery operations. Coupled with the installation of a Nitrogen Generation system, phase one was a success, leading us to a 25-30% reduction in CO2 needs.
The arrival of the tanks back in 2022 was the beginning of phase two. Since then, the tanks have become fully operational, and we’re able to store around 50 tons of CO2. “That equates to about a month of our CO2 use,” says John. This back-up volume will allow our production teams to function without interruption in the event of shortages or other issues that may arise.
Now, the time has come and we’ve finally entered phase three of this ongoing sustainability project. With our other infrastructure already in place, we were delighted to receive three custom-built compressor containers for our carbon capture system. Our beer fermentation creates about one million pounds of CO2 annually. Harnessing that byproduct, storing it in our tanks and reusing it during the brewing process is our ultimate goal. “When the piping is finished, we should capture enough CO2 to cover almost all of our yearly needs,” says brewmaster John Trogner.
“We all have families, we all have children, and we want to leave this world a better place than when we came into it,” says Jason Knox, our Maintenance Manager. “At Tröegs, we pay attention to our carbon footprint and drive sustainability efforts so we can be a good neighbor to our community.”
It’s just one way we’re making our corner of the world a better place for everyone.
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