Well if this isn’t irony I don’t know what is. The City Brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin has now begun a heat and power project that utilizes methane gas created at the brewery and converts it into clean energy to run nearby Gundersen Lutheran hospital.
Methane from the brewery process is captured to run a biogas Jenbacher engine that in turn produces electricity that is then sent back to the grid. The amount of electricity produced by the biogas engine is then metered by the local power provider (Xcel Energy) and credited accordingly to the hospital. Heat from the co-gen engine can also be used to facilitate the brewing process at the brewery.
The project should create about 3 million kilowatt hours of energy a year, or enough electricity to heat nearly 300 homes. Currently, the project only supplies a portion of the hospital’s electrical needs, but plans are in the works to enable the hospital to be 100% beer-powered shortly.
The Good: A great use for an otherwise wasted byproduct of the brewing process. It’s powering a hospital!
The Bad: Currently the program offsets only a portion of the hospital’s electrical needs.
The Bottom-Line: Using beer to power the place where some of its ‘over-indulgent’ customers end up…why not.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY RATING:
YOUR SUSTAINABILITY RATING:
Related Posts:
Follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook. While you're at it, subscribe to our feed as well!
Discussion
View Comments for “Brewery’s Beer-Making Powers Hospital”