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Scottish beermaker hops on to biomethane train

Monday, 03 May 2021

Scottish brewer BrewDog have teamed up with biogas solutions provider DMT Environmental Technology to produce green gas from waste at their site at Ellon.

The treatment process largely revolves around the recycling and processing of wastewater, a resource recently highlighted by the EBA for its potential as a low carbon energy source, amongst other things.

The recycling will cut down net water usage of the brewery by 50% via a purification step, with the waste stream sludge byproduct from this step being processed in a digester, which produces biogas.

The biogas is further upgraded to near pure biomethane - which involves separating out the (bio)methane from the carbon dioxide and other minority impurities. The carbon dioxide stream can be reused in the brewing, further closing the loop on the whole process.

DMT will be supplying the biogas upgrading technology, capable of processing 600 cubic metres per hour. Furthermore, the resulting biomethane is expected to be injected into the national gas grid by February 2022.

“BrewDog is the perfect example of what can be achieved not only through their core brewery operations,” said Stephen McCulloch, business director at DMT. “Add their considerable efforts in BrewDog Forest, and the world’s first carbon-negative brewery, proving the determination in their mission to reduce carbon emissions is more than just words.”

DMT’s UK team will take care of the daily management of the scope, working together with SGN (previously Scotia Gas Network) and its partner Heat & Power Services to ensure timely delivery of the project.

Given the plant to inject biomethane into the grid, BrewDog should be eligible for Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (NDRHI) payments - essentially a Feed-in Tariff for biomethane producers. The NDRHI scheme ended on 31 March 2021 to new applicants. However, via extensions or Tariff Guarantees it is possible  to commission their plant and submit a full application post this date, provided it is done before 31 March 2022 - the BrewDog/DMT will be taking advantage of this situation.

BrewDog, like many other companies is working towards zero emissions and in August 2020 claimed to have become a carbon negative business via carbon offsets.

Sources

Bioenergy Insight

DMT