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How Can Breweries Reduce Their Carbon Footprint and Improve Sustainability?

Have You Ever Wondered About the Climate Impact of Your Beer?


Carbon footprint in beer prodution

Beer is more than just a drink; it’s the product of a complex process involving agriculture, chemistry, and engineering. From cultivating barley and hops to brewing, packaging, and transportation, every step leaves its mark on the planet.


But not all beers are created equal when it comes to their carbon footprint.


Studies using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) reveal a wide range of impacts—from as low as 25 kg CO₂e to as high as 259 kg CO₂e per 100 liters. These variations depend on factors like cultivation practices, transportation methods, brewing techniques, packaging formats, brewery size, and even whether the consumer phase is included. 


This wide range of impacts emphasizes the importance of understanding the carbon footprint of each product individually. By identifying which stages of production—be it packaging, brewing, or transportation—contribute the most to emissions, breweries can take meaningful steps to reduce their environmental impact. 


Dynamic Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) play a crucial role in this process. They empower breweries to calculate and act on emissions data at every stage of production, moving beyond averages to uncover actionable insights. With these tools, breweries can not only address compliance but also identify opportunities to improve sustainability, reduce costs, and gain a stronger position in a market increasingly focused on responsible business practices. By demonstrating leadership in reducing emissions and optimizing production, breweries can appeal to customers, strengthen partnerships, and set themselves apart from competitors. 


Curious how your brewery can identify emission hotspots and reduce its carbon footprint? Start your free trial with Nature Preserve today and see how Dynamic LCAs provide the insights you need to take action. 



Understanding and analyzing these differences isn’t just about compliance—it’s about identifying opportunities to improve sustainability, reduce costs, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market. To explore this further, we’ll dive into the carbon footprint of a pale lager using insights from a detailed study by Cimini and Moresi (2016), published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. This research offers a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA), examining the environmental impacts across key production stages—cultivation, brewing, packaging, and distribution. Drawing on these findings, we’ll highlight how emissions vary throughout the process and share actionable strategies breweries can adopt to make beer production more sustainable, ensuring that every pint leaves a smaller footprint. 


Key Contributors to Beer’s Carbon Emissions.


  1. Carbon Impact of Cultivating Beer Ingredients.

The first step in beer production—growing barley, maize, and hops—plays a significant role in determining its environmental impact. These essential ingredients require resources like water, fertilizers, and energy, each contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

  • Barley: Growing and malting barley contributes up to 1.143 kg CO₂e per kilogram, driven by fertilizer use, irrigation, and energy-intensive drying processes. 

  • Maize: Processing maize grits results in 0.746 kg CO₂e per kilogram, adding to emissions from cultivation. 

  • Hops: Farming hops generates about 2 kg CO₂e per kilogram, with additional emissions from drying to prepare them for storage. 


Opportunities for Improvement:

  • Adopting precision agriculture techniques to minimize fertilizer use. 

  • Optimizing energy efficiency during malting and drying. 

  • Exploring the use of renewable energy in processing operations. 



  1. Energy Consumption in the Brewing Process.

Brewing transforms raw ingredients into the beer we love, but it’s an energy-intensive process. Producing 100 liters of beer typically requires 8–15 kWh of electricity and 150 MJ of natural gas, depending on brewery size and equipment efficiency.

Energy Consumption Brewing Process
The influence of brewery size on the carbon footprint of beer production
  • Cooling systems, used for refrigeration and process streams, are often the largest consumers of electricity. 

  • Thermal energy, primarily derived from fossil fuels, powers processes like wort boiling and water evaporation. 


Opportunities for Improvement: 

  • Installing heat recovery systems to capture and reuse energy. 

  • Transitioning to renewable energy sources like solar or wind. 

  • Enhancing brewing efficiency by upgrading equipment and processes. 



  1. Environmental Costs of Beer Packaging.

Packaging plays a larger role in beer’s carbon footprint than many expect. Choices like glass bottles, aluminum cans, or PET bottles each come with unique environmental considerations:

  • Glass bottles are heavier and lead to higher emissions during production and transportation. 

  • Aluminum cans are lighter but have a carbon-intensive production process, making their overall footprint comparable to glass. 

  • PET bottles, though less common, can reduce emissions by up to 18% due to their lightweight design and lower material requirements.

Sustainable beer packaging
Impact of packaging choices: comparing emissions from glass bottles and kegs

Opportunities for Improvement:

  • Shifting to lighter or reusable packaging materials

  • Optimizing transportation efficiency for packaged products.

Dynamic LCAs in Breweries Reduce Emission
Comparison of emissions: 33 cL glass bottles, aluminum cans, and 30 L kegs


 

How can Dynamic LCAs Help Reduce Carbon Footprint in Breweries?


Dynamic LCAs provide breweries with insights into the environmental impact of every stage of production, helping them make data-driven decisions that align with sustainability goals and cost considerations.


Curious how Dynamic LCAs can guide your brewery toward smarter sustainability decisions? Book a meeting with our team to learn how Nature Preserve can help you identify emission hotspots, reduce costs, and build a more sustainable operation tailored to your brewery’s unique needs.



 


  1. Transportation Emissions in Beer Distribution.

Getting beer from the brewery to consumers involves significant transportation emissions, particularly when trucks are the primary mode of delivery. Transportation accounts for 10–14% of the total carbon footprint of beer production. 


Opportunities for Improvement: 

  • Local sourcing of ingredients to reduce transport distances. 

  • Transitioning from road freight to rail or other lower-emission methods where feasible. 

 


5. Waste Management: Brewing Sustainability from By-Products.

Beer production generates by-products like spent grains and yeast, which are often seen as waste but hold significant potential for sustainability improvements. 

  • Spent grains can be repurposed as animal feed, offsetting emissions associated with alternative feed production. 

  • Anaerobic Digestion (AD) can transform brewing waste into biomethane, electricity, and fertilizer, supporting circular economy practices. 


Opportunities for Improvement: 

  • Invest in AD technology to reduce emissions and create new revenue streams. 

  • Promote the reuse of by-products in innovative ways, such as bioenergy production. 

 


The Role of Dynamic LCAs in Brewery Sustainability.


To reduce carbon footprint in breweries requires a clear understanding of where emissions occur and how they can be minimized. Dynamic LCAs provide breweries with precise insights to their beer production, empowering them to: 

  • Identify emission hotspots across their value chain. 

  • Simulate how changes in practices—like switching packaging materials or adopting renewable energy—impact emissions. 

  • Make actionable decisions that balance sustainability and profitability. 

Nature Preserve’s platform makes LCAs accessible and actionable, giving breweries the tools they need to lead in sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint of their operations. 

 

The Path to a More Sustainable Pint.


From cultivating barley to packaging the final product, every stage of beer production presents an opportunity to reduce emissions and create a more sustainable future. By leveraging tools like Dynamic LCAs, breweries can take meaningful, data-driven steps to improve their environmental impact while staying competitive in today’s eco-conscious market. 


Ready to make your brewery a leader in sustainability? 


Don’t wait to take action. Start your Free Trial with Nature Preserve today—fill out the form below to access advanced life cycle assessments, uncover emission hotspots, and see how measurable sustainability can drive real results for your brewery. 



 

References

  • Cimini, Alessio, and Mauro Moresi. "Carbon footprint of a pale lager packed in different formats: assessment and sensitivity analysis based on transparent data." Journal of Cleaner Production 112 (2016): 4196-4213.  

  • Cimini, Alessio, and Mauro Moresi. "Mitigation measures to minimize the cradle-to-grave beer carbon footprint as related to the brewery size and primary packaging materials." Journal of Food Engineering 236 (2018): 1-8.  

  • Mganga, Yvonne Laurent, Peter Makinde, and Ellen Akua Pokuah. "Life cycle assessment of the environmental impacts of beer production process." (2020).  

  • Sganzerla, William Gustavo, et al. "Techno-economic assessment of bioenergy and fertilizer production by anaerobic digestion of brewer’s spent grains in a biorefinery concept." Journal of cleaner production 297 (2021): 126600.  

  • Veleva, Vesela, Coleman Horsley, and Garima Chatrath. Reducing a Beer’s Carbon Footprint: The Case of Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers. SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals, 2024.  

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