[ Developing Ideas Digest ][ IISDnet Contents ]

About Di Digest | Back Issues | Mailing List | Email DI | On Line Features 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
LitScan

5.

Sustainable Suds?

Though some might argue, beer does not quite rank up there with clothing, food and shelter on the list of basic human necessities. People in the brewery business are nonetheless making a refreshing attempt at reconciling their beer-making livelihoods with the fate of future generations. 'Micro-breweries' have long tried to abide by the small-is-beautiful credo and keep benefits in the local community. Now, from Zhenfeng, China to Namibia to Germany, a select number of breweries are moving further down the path of sustainability with positive spin-offs not just to the local community but to the local environment as well. Brothers Scott and Todd Leopold, great-grand- nephews of American author and early conservationist Aldo Leopold, are launching an 'eco-brewery' in Ann Arbor, Michigan designed to eliminate or at least minimize manufacturing waste, using a 'zero' emissions' design. The brothers plan to use non-toxic chemicals and building materials, minimize energy use and packaging, and reduce and recycle wastewater. Some of the design elements are quite unorthodox - like using solid waste by-products to cultivate mushrooms on the side, or a purpose-built greenhouse to absorb carbon dioxide emitted during production. Together, however, they may amount to a natural evolution in manufacturing toward more 'closed-loop' processes. We look forward to sipping the fine brew after the summer of '97 when the company plans to unkeg the first of its Leopold Bros. beer to the world. Salut! Cheers! Chin - chin! [a sustainable coming-of-age story for beer-makers and 'micro-breweries']

Word Watch eco-brewery n.a brewery that plans to eliminate waste and minimize energy use in its manufacturing process

In Depth Allenby, Braden R. and Deanna J. Richards, eds. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1994. 259 p.

Taylor, Bernard et al. The Environmental Management Handbook. London: Pitman Publishing, 1994. 486 p

NOT HOT -

The Brewing Chinese Beer Market

Consider that the billion-plus Chinese population is fast acquiring a taste for beer. Beer production in China is growing at a rate of 600% a year - and looks set to continue given that the average Chinese still consumes only 1/36th the beer intake of the typical US native. The Chinese Academy of Science and UN University are concerned this could have implications on China's water supply because most breweries make hefty water demands and release untreated wastewater into surrounding water bodies. China already suffers from major water pollution, linked by some researchers to decreased agricultural yields. Even if future Chinese consumption only increased fivefold, a further 170 billion gallons of wastewater could be generated. The problem is amplified by the fact that the biggest growth markets in beer today - Asia, Africa and Latin America - also tend to have breweries with the poorest environmental practices and law enforcement. 'Eco-breweries' like the ones mentioned above could help in setting new standards for water management worldwide.


Virtual Ideas		 Visit the Leopold Bros. 'eco-brewery' http://members.gnn.com/sleopold/aabrew.htm