CO₂ from beer-making used to feed productive algae and reduce emissions

Algal bio-reactor at Young Henrys. (ABC News)

When beer is fermented it releases carbon dioxide (CO₂). While crop cultivation and transport are a major part of the industry's emissions, the CO₂ from fermenting just one six-pack of beer takes a tree 2 days to remove it from the atmosphere. Conversely, green algae soaks up CO₂ quickly and makes ample oxygen (O₂) via photosynthesis. For example, a 400-litre bag of algae installed at a Sydney brewery (Young Henrys) is producing as much O₂ as a hectare of Australian bush. So here the fermenting process is putting O₂ into the air instead of CO₂.

The added bonus is that algae make sugars and other molecules from the photosynthetic process. These molecules are the building blocks for food, pharmaceuticals and plastic. The scientists of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) managing the project at Young Henrys brewery have the aim to prove carbon emissions can be used to make commercial products. One advantage is that these algae need much less water to create food than say a crop of soybeans.

An example of a possible algal product is studied by Dr Janice McCauley who looks at using algae to make human supplements that can improve our health. Algae have the potential to do this because they have these molecules that could reduce inflammation in our bodies.

Read more:
- Every sixpack of beer contributes to climate change. Brewers hope algae is the solution. ABC News, January 15, 2020.
- Deep Green Biotech Hub, UTS: https://deepgreenhub.uts.edu.au/