by Thomas Nailen E. Nailen Jr.

My hometown of Asheville, North Carolina is a city known for many things, not the least of which its beer.  Asheville was voted Beer City USA in 2012 for its fourth consecutive title because of the exceptional diversity of breweries in Asheville and just how good they are.  The title isn’t likely to go anywhere else soon because two of the big dogs in the craft-brewing game are moving in town: Sierra Nevada and New Belgium.  What is so impressive about these two breweries is not just that they are consistently ranked highly as top craft breweries in America (nos. 2 and 3 in the Brewers Association top 50), but that they display incredible commitment to environmental sustainability.

Sierra Nevada, located in Chico, CA, is a leader in solar technology implementation with over 10,000 photovoltaic cells in two fields producing 2,635,869 kWh—19% of the massive facility’s energy needs.  Two of the facility’s buildings, the daycare and rail facilities, run completely off solar energy produced by their solar fields.  Sierra Nevada’s total solar system is one of the largest privately owned solar systems in the country with plans on expansion in the near future.  Sierra Nevada produces another 48% of its total energy demand with 4 hydrogen fuel cells—the first system of its kind installed by an American Brewery.  Waste heat generated by the cells is recycled into the brewing process make the facility 15% more efficient.  From installing large windows to maximize natural light, to using rail for transportation when possible and biodiesel when not, to having an onsite water treatment facility, to capturing and recycling CO2 from the fermentation process, to maintaining an employee garden, Sierra Nevada’s sustainability efforts have proven the company to be as leader in the private sustainability field. Oh, and did I mention they make beer too?

Sierra Nevada’s rooftop solar fields

New Belgium is a similar craft brewery located in Fort Collins, CO with an equally impressive sustainability report.   New Belgium installed a 264,000 kWh photovoltaic system in 2010—the largest privately owned solar array in Colorado at the time providing 3% of their total energy needs.  They recycle methane produced during the water treatment process in their on site facility to a CHP engine that produces up to 15% of their electrical needs.  In 1999 New Belgium became the first brewery in America to purchase 100% of its electricity needs from wind when the employee-owners voted to purchase wind electricity from a Wyoming wind farm at 157% the price they were paying for fossil fuel based electricity.  Since their investment, the city of Fort Collins erected additional turbines specifically to supply energy to the brewery, becoming the first electric utility to offer wind power in the state.

These sustainability minded breweries are a perfect fit in Asheville.  Because of its location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville has always been sustainability minded, but recent initiatives have shown renewed effort including the 2.5% carbon footprint reduction last year (part of a yearly 2% reduction plan to reduce Asheville’s carbon footprint by 80% by 2050) and mandating that all new municipal buildings will be LEED  (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.  Aside from its environmental efforts, Asheville is also called a beertopia, with the highest breweries per capita nationally, 4 beer festivals, countless beer tours, and its 4-year Beer City USA streak.

So what is it about mountain towns across the country, sustainability, and beer?  I don’t know.  Maybe it’s the creative and passionate people the mountains attract.  Maybe hiking through the natural mountain scenery evokes a passion for the as well as the deep thirst for a cold beer.  Maybe you can discuss it during one of Asheville’s weekly Asheville Green Drinks where Ashvillians and travelers gather downtown to share a drink while discussing environmental issues, hearing from top environmental speakers, and networking to see their green ideas come to life.  All I know is that the efforts from breweries like Sierra Nevada and New Belgium have shown the craft-brewing industry has separated itself as a leader in our nation’s green movement. These breweries are doing the little things like turning the lights off and the big things like investing in solar and wind energy at their own expense as well as harboring the environmental community with programs like New Belgium’s Team Wonderbike and Sierra Nevada’s Wild Rivers campaign.  These brewers have said yes to sustainability, given to the environmental community, and given environmentally aware consumers reason to sit back and support the craft-brewing industry with a nice tall brew.