TwoHeadsBrewing said:Late last year they completed a huge solar array that goes over the main parking lot, and supplies them with all their power in the summer months.
EdWort said:This whole "carbon footprint" is hogwash. CO2 is exhaled by living mammels and is used by plants which exhale oxygen.
All if it is insignificant compared to what Mother Nature can and does when she decides to go stomping around leaving footprints.
Nothing wrong with conserving, but lets leave it at that and don't pee on my head and tell me it's acid rain from global warming.
Originally posed by blacklab
I took the New Belgium tour in Ft. Collins and they were very proud of being all solar powered.
drsocc said:I mean - Do they break even due to the growing of the hop plants? Or is it still negative due to the gas required to harvest/ plant the hops?
How much co2 are you dudes throwing around?
tranceamerica said:One thing that bothers me about "my" brewery is how often I have to heat something, just to cool it later, using energy on both ends. For example, having to boil wort, then use a wort chiller to cool it.
commercial breweries use a heat exchanger to use that heat to heat the mash and lauter water. If I brewed continuously, I'd do that too.
drsocc said:Aren't solar panels still a chemical reaction?
Also - I'm amazed that we still use coal power. Are we seriously burning coal to heat water into steam to spin a turbine...? How many steps is that? Thats nuts to think about.
chillHayze said:You might try using water from the hot water heater for brewing. Your hot water heater is much more efficient that your gas burner.
Also, use the water output from your wort chiller for warm/hot (depending of the efficiency of the chiller) water for sanitizing. You don't really need sanatizing solution before this step anyway. I save most of the water, even after the output temp. drops, in buckets and re-use for clean-up.
EvilTOJ said:Wow, solar panels on the roof of the brewery too. Now just imagine if it were like that on every building in every major city....
Screw the 'carbon footprint' debate, if everyone had solar panels on the buildings that means cheaper power for everyone! Sadly, it's one of those 'Why don't they?..." questions.
tranceamerica said:Even if you covered it's roof w/solar panels, it'd hardly make a dent in the power use of the building. When the owner sees how little power it outputs, and how much it'll cost, they tend to put their green dollars elsewhere, where it'll have more of a real impact, such as using more energy efficient light fixtures, or power management systems.
tranceamerica said:I work 'in the biz' and get to see this equasion run all the time. I think the real answer, of "why aren't they on every building" is simply that they don't output much power, either per square foot, or per dollar spent. Take, for example, a high rise tower - it's footprint (roof area) is very small compared to it's floor area, and hence also to it's power consumption.
EvilTOJ said:Screw the 'carbon footprint' debate, if everyone had solar panels on the buildings that means cheaper power for everyone!
drsocc said:I mean - Do they break even due to the growing of the hop plants? Or is it still negative due to the gas required to harvest/ plant the hops?
How much co2 are you dudes throwing around?
chillHayze said:You might try using water from the hot water heater for brewing. Your hot water heater is much more efficient that your gas burner.
Also, use the water output from your wort chiller for warm/hot (depending of the efficiency of the chiller) water for sanitizing. You don't really need sanatizing solution before this step anyway. I save most of the water, even after the output temp. drops, in buckets and re-use for clean-up.
EdWort said:This whole "carbon footprint" is hogwash. CO2 is exhaled by living mammels and is used by plants which exhale oxygen.
All if it is insignificant compared to what Mother Nature can and does when she decides to go stomping around leaving footprints.
Nothing wrong with conserving, but lets leave it at that and don't pee on my head and tell me it's acid rain from global warming.
drsocc said:I mean:
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2007/
"The year 2007 tied for second warmest in the period of instrumental data, behind the record warmth of 2005, in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) analysis. 2007 tied 1998, which had leapt a remarkable 0.2°C above the prior record with the help of the "El Niño of the century". The unusual warmth in 2007 is noteworthy because it occurs at a time when solar irradiance is at a minimum and the equatorial Pacific Ocean is in the cool phase of its natural El Niño-La Niña cycle."
EdWort said:This whole "carbon footprint" is hogwash. CO2 is exhaled by living mammels and is used by plants which exhale oxygen.
All if it is insignificant compared to what Mother Nature can and does when she decides to go stomping around leaving footprints.
Nothing wrong with conserving, but lets leave it at that and don't pee on my head and tell me it's acid rain from global warming.
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