ENVIROMENT
THE ENVIRONMENT
SAVE THE EARTH BE ENVIRONMENTALE
TIM O’ROURKE IS A MASTER BREWER WITH OVER 35 YEARS EXPERIENCE. HE HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE INTERNATIONAL BREWING INDUSTRY IN A WIDE RANGE OF CAPACITIES, HIS EXPERTISE COVERS PRODUCT AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MARKETING AND PROMOTION. IN THIS ARTICLE, FOCUSING ON BREWING, HE ARGUES THAT IT IS UP TO ALL OF US TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND LOOK AFTER AND CHERISH OUR PLANET AND MAKE IT SAFE FOR OUR CHILDREN AND OUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN.
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SPRING 2022
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nvironmental pollution and climate change is the major challenge facing the world today. Effects of climate change surround us with increases in extreme weather events. There is a clear link between climate change and the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and the levels have increased from 283.4 mg/l with an average surface temperature of 8.40C in 1900 to 415.8 mg/l and a surface temperature of 9.70C in 2020. With current forecast emissions surface temperatures are expected to rise by between 2.0 and 2.50C over 1900 temperatures, with some projections as high as 50C.
Industry is busy decarbonising by replacing fossil fuels with clean non-polluting energy. At present, industry is unable to completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions during manufacture and offsets the additional emissions by signing up to “carbon offsets”. It is essential any offsetting is sustainable, accredited, and credible.
Offsetting will not be sufficient to halt the rise in temperature and it will require carbon capture to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this is a young and developing technology which is expected to play a prominent part in combating greenhouse gases. By contrast to many processed food and drink products, beer has a moderate carbon footprint, but due to the volume consumed it still a significant contributor to greenhouse gases. When calculating the carbon footprint of a beer it is necessary to include the whole supply chain from grain to glass. A typical litre of draught beer gives off 363 grams/ CO2e per litre while the equivalent beer packed in non-returnable bottles give off 832 grams/CO2e per litre, based on results calculated from 11 different UK breweries. The first step is to calculate the brewery’s carbon footprint across the whole supply chain from barley cultivation to the customer enjoying their beer in the pub or at home. This can look like a daunting task and ap-
Figure 1 Carbon Footprint for different food servings based on data taken from “How Bad are Bananas” by Mike Berners-Lee Revised 2020.
BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA
