Today’s Solutions: November 02, 2024

For Australian brewery Young Henrys, fighting climate change means including an unusual ingredient in their beer-making process: algae. The fermentation of beer releases large amounts of CO2, but the brewery uses an innovative algae tank to absorb their emissions and produce as much oxygen as two and a half acres of wilderness.

Working with the University of Technology Sydney, the brewery designed a system that involves two bioreactors to cultivate algae. Both contain CO2, oxygen, and algae, but one serves as a control and one is connected to a fermentation tank so produced CO2 flows into it. The second tank consistently contains 50 percent fewer algae, meaning the experimental bioreactor is successfully consuming the harmful greenhouse gas. 

Now, the team is working to make the technology scalable for larger manufacturers. Fortunately, the system could be easily adopted by breweries both large and small to reduce their carbon footprint.

It takes a tree approximately two days to absorb the CO2 released from producing one six-pack of beer, but incorporating easily-maintained algae systems into breweries is a cost-effective solution for in-house emissions reductions that can even help breweries achieve carbon neutrality.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

This heartwarming Danish ad breaks down the ‘Us vs Them’ narrative

It’s rare that we publish a story about an advertisement, but then again it’s rare that an ad stirs so much emotion within its ...

Read More

NOAHs: Charlotte has a formula for long-lasting affordable housing

We recently shared how empty retail space could be the solution to California’s affordable housing crisis. Across the country in North Carolina, the city ...

Read More

A seat at the table for underrepresented communities

Climate change is already affecting all of us—however, those that bear the brunt of these consequences are predominantly from low-income, marginalized, BIPOC communities. So ...

Read More

Expanding democracy: Michigan opens new doors for formerly incarcerated voters

Malijah Gee's path from incarceration at the age of 17 to imminent freedom reflects the longing for a voice that has been suppressed for 36 years. ...

Read More