Energy improvement options for a small-scale brewery: a literature study

In the age of technology and development in which we live nowadays, it is inevitable to realise that this so-called progress is translated into pollution, damage to the environment and abuse of energy and fossil fuels. The companies and factories that produce the goods we need, use a lot of energy and pollute in massive ways, posing dilemmas such as how to make these companies more energetically and environmentally efficient, with the aim of decreasing the emissions and energy use. This literature review proposes a compilation and update of suggestions made to microbreweries after undergoing an energy audit, in an attempt to make these companies more energy-efficient, competitive, economical and sustainable. The information has been obtained by searching peer-reviewed articles in different databases and re-arranged in this article into sections on energy efficiency measures, waste treatment options and environmental impact. Several studies have been carried out on improving efficiency and trying to decrease the environmental impact of beer production processes. The main issues found during the process are energy efficiency and the generated wastewater. Both problems could be solved either by using an internal boiler that would generate less waste, applying renewable energies or by treating the residues in bioreactors, a field that needs further study. The choice of packaging material will be influenced by customer preferences and material recycling, being glass bottles and aluminium cans the most popular choices.