BrewDog's $55m carbon-negative plan

Scottish craft brewer BrewDog has unveiled an AU$55m climate action plan to tackle emissions. The brewer aims to remove twice as much carbon from the air than it emits every single year. The move is founded in its belief that carbon neutral is no longer enough, and that businesses should be having a positive impact on the planet. The beer business said it is now carbon negative.

The news comes as BrewDog Australia launches its first Brisbane-brewed headliner beers — available on its new e-commerce site or at the DogTap in Murarrie. One of the brewer’s primary reasons for investing in local brewing late last year and now opening an e-commerce site in Brisbane is to reduce the miles the beer travels to reach the consumer.

As a part of the climate action plan efforts, the brewer’s Australian arm is also introducing a host of green infrastructure projects and sustainability initiatives.

BrewDog Australia plans to add solar panels to its brewery in Brisbane, and is already providing all spent grain to feed local cattle in Queensland. All its excess CO₂ emissions are offset through Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, a multi-species native reforestation project located in south-west Australia.

It is also looking to work with green partners, and plans to launch a sustainable ‘drive-thru’ that will act as a beer collection point, and a hub for electronic vehicle deliveries and closed-loop packaging such as growlers, mini-kegs and returnable bottles. 

BrewDog’s expansion into Australia has been supported by the Queensland Government through the Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund and Brisbane City Council through Brisbane Economic Development Agency. The brewery is creating new jobs for Queensland’s craft brewing industry and is expecting to fill around a dozen more roles by the end of the year.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said this type of investment in sectors such as food and beverage will help drive our city’s recovery and future growth as we climb out of the economic hole created by the global pandemic. “It’s our civic duty; if we’re going to crack a brew on the weekend, make it local first.”

Over the past few months, BrewDog in the UK has been working closely with lead scientific advisor Professor Mike Berners-Lee and his team at Small World Consulting. As a part of its sustainability initiatives, BrewDog has purchased 2050 acres of Scottish Highlands just north of Loch Lomond, to create the BrewDog Forest, and plans to plant one million trees over the next few years.

James Watt, BrewDog CEO, said, “The scientific consensus is clear: we are sleepwalking off the edge of a cliff. Unless the world confronts the urgent carbon problem, science tells us that the results will be catastrophic.”

Image credit: BrewDog