Canberra brewery achieves carbon-neutral status

A Canberra-based brewery, Capital Brewing Co., is now carbon neutral, with both its products and the organisation itself being certified by Climate Active.

“With sustainability being at the core of every decision we make, we’re incredibly proud to be recognised by Climate Active as the first brewery in Australia to be certified carbon neutral for our entire operations, all our products, and all direct and indirect emissions we’ve created,” said co-founder and co-managing director Tom Hertel.

The brewery has also worked with Climate Active and Pangolin Associates to develop a template to help other breweries calculate their own carbon emissions. The template is designed to help provide a streamlined path to carbon neutral and reduce the administrative costs of the process.

“There is often the expectation that becoming carbon neutral is restrictive, laborious and expensive. However, with the easy-to-use framework and urgent need to act, we’re calling on our fellow brewers to get on board and, together as an industry, let’s lead the way for real action on climate change.”

The brewery reduced its carbon contributions using 100% renewable energy, sending spent grain, hops and yeast to an organic farm and adopting a water-cooled refrigeration plant. It also purchased carbon credits to offset remaining carbon emissions.

The template will soon be available via the Independent Brewers Association.