Times-Herald staff report
Posted: 04/17/2009
Kevin Finger, general manager of the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield, shows the newly installed solar panels. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
FAIRFIELD -- More than six acres of photovoltaic solar arrays, installed and operated by SunEdison, are now generating the equivalent of about 3 percent of the power needs of the Anheuser-Busch brewery, the firm announced Thursday.
Last year, the brewery entered into an agreement with SunEdison to host the solar power plant on brewery property.
The brewery also constructed a bio-energy recovery system that provides more than 15 percent of its fuel needs by turning nutrients in brewing wastewater into renewable biogas, decreasing the need for natural gas, company officials said.
Other examples of recent conservation and efficiency improvements at the Fairfield brewery include a project to recover steam to heat water in the brewhouse, which reduced greenhouse gas emissions; and the installation of more efficient boiler burners and new energy-efficient air compressors. Brewery lighting also has been replaced with energy-efficient fixtures on timers, officials said.
The brewery has decreased the use of fuel by 38 percent, water by 32 percent and electricity by 14 percent since 2004, the company said.
The brewery's new ground-mount solar system also will generate renewable energy certificates for businesses or individuals to buy to offset their use of fossil fuel energy and greenhouse gas emissions, according to the announcement.
For more information online, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.
