A biodiesel technology company has teamed up with one of the world’s biggest makers of beer to open the world’s first major green brewery. This news release from BDI – BioEnergy International says the company teamed up with Brau Union Österreich, part of the international Heineken family, to open the BDI spent-grain fermentation plant that will generate energy from residual brewery materials.
As part of Heineken’s sustainability initiative “Brewing a better World”, the last milestone towards carbon neutrality was laid … with the opening of brewery Göss’ spent-grain fermentation plant.
The BDI spent-grain fermentation plant in Göss/Leoben was opened only six months after the official start of construction. In the presence of Styrian VIPs, Brau Union Österreich and BDI – BioEnergy International AG celebrated the last milestone towards achieving carbon neutrality of the Göss brewery plant.
Brau Union Österreich, part of the international Heineken family, has set itself the goal of using renewable energies throughout the entire brewing process.
In future the energy generated from the brewery’s residual materials will be used in the brewery for steam generation and excess gas will be converted into green electricity. In addition, the digestate, a by-product of the spent-grain fermentation plant, will be used as high quality fertilizer.
“With the construction of this industrial spent-grain fermentation plant, we were able, due to the optimal integration of our biogas process, to supply a convincing solution to this environmental project, and thus to help Brau Union Österreich on its way to a completely carbon-neutral plant”, says Dr. Edgar Ahn, Member of the Executive Board of BDI – BioEnergy International AG.