FARK.com: (5954335) MIT grad's invention turns brewery waste to fuel. "Saving the earth, one beer at a time"

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		MIT grad's invention turns brewery waste to fuel. "Saving the earth, one beer at a time" (boston.com)		81
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12757 clicks; posted to Main » on 13 Feb 2011 at 5:30 PM | Favorite | share:

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namatad		2011-02-13 03:50:17 PM

anaerobic methane digester
how is this an invention or even news?

Link (new window)

this is so old jesus is laughing at the green light

Sudo_Make_Me_A_Sandwich		2011-02-13 04:00:33 PM

namatad: anaerobic methane digester
how is this an invention or even news?

FTA: "But PurposeEnergy says its digester is the first in the world to extract energy from the spent grain and then re-use it in the brewery, and all in one place"

That's like saying "we've known about internal combustion for decades, how is the release of the new Ferrari news?"

UNC_Samurai		2011-02-13 04:22:40 PM

It's news that Magic Hat was willing to invest a few million in a bioreactor.

namatad		2011-02-13 05:02:45 PM

Sudo_Make_Me_A_Sandwich: namatad: anaerobic methane digester
how is this an invention or even news?

FTA: "But PurposeEnergy says its digester is the first in the world to extract energy from the spent grain and then re-use it in the brewery, and all in one place"

That's like saying "we've known about internal combustion for decades, how is the release of the new Ferrari news?"

lol
ferrari??

first brewery to use old tech is still not an invention
any factory in the world which has plant waste can use a digester and use the methane onsite

yah, I stand my ground, this is YAWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN so boring

ferrari??bwehahahahahaha
maybe yugo

doglover		2011-02-13 05:30:43 PM

Finally, and end to Marmite. HUZZAH!

astonrickenbach		2011-02-13 05:35:46 PM

DNRTFA, they're turning urine into fuel?

JustFarkingGreat		2011-02-13 05:36:55 PM

UNC_Samurai: It's news that Magic Hat was willing to invest a few million in a bioreactor.

Magic Hat sold out to NAB (the same company that sells Genesee, Dundee, and Labatt here in the states)

Tourney3p0		2011-02-13 05:39:41 PM

I could have sworn that New Belgium did this as well, but maybe not.

Slacquer		2011-02-13 05:46:27 PM

If they use brewery waste for fuel, then what will the English use to spread on toast?
www.augmentedplanet.com

oldebayer		2011-02-13 05:47:53 PM

doglover: Finally, and end to Marmite. HUZZAH!

Came in to say this. Next nastiness turned into useful fuel source: VEGEMITE!

agos1247		2011-02-13 05:47:53 PM

Mr. Fusion

Lanny Budd		2011-02-13 05:54:00 PM

Wikipeida: "The first anaerobic digester was built by a leper colony in Bombay, India in 1859."

culebra		2011-02-13 06:00:09 PM

You could also just process it aerobically (compost it) and use the results to grow more barley and hops. Not sexy enough I guess.

Virulency		2011-02-13 06:03:12 PM

beer, the cause of and the solution to all problems...

Bonzo_1116		2011-02-13 06:07:27 PM

I approve of what Sam Adams does with their spent wort in New England: they send it to the Ben And Jerry's ice cream cows.

Apparently the cows haul ass to watch the malt truck come to the facility. The sound of the truck is like Pavlov's bell.

belhade		2011-02-13 06:18:16 PM

Does that mean they make alcoholic milk?

Drunk cows! Watch out!

Notabunny		2011-02-13 06:22:47 PM

culebra: You could also just process it aerobically (compost it) and use the results to grow more barley and hops.

I support this post

Saturnalia		2011-02-13 06:23:53 PM

Dried distiller's grains have been used as animal feed for some time and has been suggested as a feedstock for ethanol or butanol production. This process skips the drying stage, which alone offers considerable savings. Not sure what waste the process produces, but it will be somewhat less than pumping the waste into the sewers.

Bonzo_1116		2011-02-13 06:30:13 PM

Saturnalia: Dried distiller's grains have been used as animal feed for some time and has been suggested as a feedstock for ethanol or butanol production. This process skips the drying stage, which alone offers considerable savings. Not sure what waste the process produces, but it will be somewhat less than pumping the waste into the sewers.

Not to mention this skips the price of hauling, wet or dry.

gensolo		2011-02-13 06:35:56 PM

I think we all know how the last MIT graduate and his crazy shenanigans went. Running around with a crowbar and all...

Paul Baumer		2011-02-13 06:38:32 PM

Homer: Here you go, honey. That's about all the recycling [hiccups] I can handle today.

Lisa: Dad, if you just drink one more I'll have a full bag.

Homer: Oh, but Daddy doesn't feel so good.

Cerebral Knievel		2011-02-13 06:49:10 PM

belhade: Does that mean they make alcoholic milk?

Drunk cows! Watch out!

unfortunately not, sorry,

almost all of the spent grain here at Legend Brewery goes directly to a cattle farmer. And I figure for as long as we've just been giving the guy the stuff, he owes us at least five cows for the restaurant.
As I understand it, the cattle predominantly spends its time in pasture, and about two weeks before carousel, they are rounded up and fed the spent grain exclusively to fatten them up further and sweeten the meat a little. or he could just be dumping the stuff in the pasture, not really sure, but it pretty much goes from the brew house to the field no matter how you look at it. there is no additional treatment of the grain.

the guy is a crochity bastard too, I have no Idea why we continue to GIVE him the grain, when other folks have offered to pay us for it. But that aint my department, so I can't say much about it.

culebra: You could also just process it aerobically (compost it) and use the results to grow more barley and hops. Not sexy enough I guess.

Sexy enough for me. we got some urban community gardens in our area and I've made sure that some of the grain is held back for them for thier compost heaps. One of them, Tricycle gardens is growing a hop trellis out of gratitude for us. its going to take a couple of years for the vines to get viable, but as soon as they can produce 9lbs of cones for us, we're going to make a batch of beer with them in THEIR honor.

I also slide them a five gallon bucket of yeast slurry to throw on the heap to aid digestion.

The Folks at the AB plant in Williamsburg Va Has invited us all up for a meet and greet tour of their facility on the 22nd, I can't wait to see their bioreactors and, well all their really big stuff!

Say what you want to about the product AB puts out, and I'll probably agree, but its well known in my community that they employ the best brewers, and pay them the best money to make the stuff, consistently, all over the world. I may be a craft brewer, but I have nothing but respect for them for what they do, and how they do it. they make their stuff, I make mine, My yearly output is what they do in a 3 hours. I can't wait to take that professional intellectual exchange tour.

Gawdzila		2011-02-13 06:58:17 PM

Farking chemistry, how does it work?

mrlewish		2011-02-13 07:01:31 PM

There is no net gain here folks. What they did is turn their waste into a movable marketable commodity. They could of always burned the leftover grain to power some of their equipment (and probably did).. but they can probably get their power from a power plant that can do it cheaper thus allowing them to turn the previously burned waste product into fuel.

bunner		2011-02-13 07:01:48 PM

In other news,

Marmite is now 39.00 a pound.

Oldiron_79		2011-02-13 07:02:30 PM

Alcohol, the cause of and solution to most of life's problems

TwowheelinTim		2011-02-13 07:05:21 PM

Once, he accidentally backed up the plumbing in his apartment building by dumping into his garbage disposal the spent grain left over from his India Pale Ale home brew. The oatmeal-looking gunk choked the pipes in his Cambridge, Mass., building, flooding the basement.

Doesn't sound too bright to me.

Hero tag? C'mon, really.

FreakinB		2011-02-13 07:05:30 PM

Cerebral Knievel: here at Legend Brewery

Legend Brewery in Richmond? I was in Richmond for one night on a road trip last year since one of my friends that was with me is a UVA alum and has a lot of friends there. We went to Legend for dinner/drinks. Good stuff.

Bonzo_1116		2011-02-13 07:06:30 PM

Cerebral Knievel:
I also slide them a five gallon bucket of yeast slurry to throw on the heap to aid digestion.

Does that actually help? I thought it was bacteria in most compost heaps, not yeasts? I'd be afraid of out-competeing my main bugs with yeast, because yeast conk out at higher temps like you'd find in a heap...

Unless they use the yeast for kick-starting a heap.

TwowheelinTim		2011-02-13 07:08:53 PM

Bonzo_1116: I approve of what Sam Adams does with their spent wort in New England:

Perhaps you can explain what "spent wort" is.

Perhaps you need to look up the definition of "wort".

bunner		2011-02-13 07:13:34 PM

TwowheelinTim: Bonzo_1116: I approve of what Sam Adams does with their spent wort in New England:

Perhaps you can explain what "spent wort" is.

Perhaps you need to look up the definition of "wort".

Definition:
Wort is the sweet liquid that comes from mashing grains. It is unfermented beer.

Surely at some point the remaining goo that was the "wort" is.. spent? Discarded? Spread on toast?

*holds up bottle of Great Lakes Dortmunder* Doesn't seem chewy.

Bonzo_1116		2011-02-13 07:19:34 PM

TwowheelinTim		2011-02-13 07:25:10 PM

Bonzo_1116: The gloppy solids from the bottom. That's what I mean, porbably should have said spent mashed grains.

Gotcha.

I've never seen a gloppy mash. It looks more like... well, crushed, damp grain.

You may be thinking about the yeast sludge that settles on the bottom of the fermenting vessel.

Been home brewing for twenty years.

EducatedBum		2011-02-13 07:44:57 PM

gensolo: I think we all know how the last MIT graduate and his crazy shenanigans went. Running around with a crowbar and all...

I still have headcrabs from it...

Smidge204		2011-02-13 07:49:25 PM

mrlewish: There is no net gain here folks. What they did is turn their waste into a movable marketable commodity. They could of always burned the leftover grain to power some of their equipment (and probably did).. but they can probably get their power from a power plant that can do it cheaper thus allowing them to turn the previously burned waste product into fuel.

You have to dry it before you can burn it. Drying takes time and energy, especially when the waste is mostly water. On the other hand, you can employ bacteria to convert a portion of the waste into methane and burn THAT instead, saving the energy from the drying process, and still have leftovers that can be used for other things if it's economically viable.

So yeah, there IS a net gain here. Thermodynamics is hard stuff, yeah?
=Smidge=

zahadum party planner		2011-02-13 07:51:57 PM

namatad: anaerobic methane digester
how is this an invention or even news?

Link (new window)

this is so old jesus is laughing at the green light

the process may not be new, but typically it's only been done at waste treatment facilities. the dude patented a device that allows it to all happen on site. he created the device, which did not exist before this. apparently previous attempts to create a process on site were horribly inefficient. His was not and now it's in use. this is not old news. did you RTFA? fully? cause they don't usually give patents to things were have been around a while.

Bonzo_1116		2011-02-13 08:03:35 PM

TwowheelinTim: Bonzo_1116: The gloppy solids from the bottom. That's what I mean, porbably should have said spent mashed grains.

Gotcha.

I've never seen a gloppy mash. It looks more like... well, crushed, damp grain.

You may be thinking about the yeast sludge that settles on the bottom of the fermenting vessel.

Been home brewing for twenty years.

I'm a home brewer on occasion... I hear the yeast solids are good as a garden fertilizer.

I'm talking about the grain solids if you do an all grain batch, or what's in the bag if you do a extract brew with a grain bag "helper". That's what they feed the Ben And Jerry's cows.

...Mmmmmm Ben and Jerry's

ramen_for_all		2011-02-13 08:08:48 PM

GIS for "beer science"

farm3.static.flickr.com

/I bet he's from Milwaukee

theorellior		2011-02-13 08:11:31 PM

Bonzo_1116: Apparently the cows haul ass to watch the malt truck come to the facility. The sound of the truck is like Pavlov's bell.

For some reason, that mental picture made me LOL.

WinoRhino		2011-02-13 08:23:30 PM

culebra: You could also just process it aerobically (compost it) and use the results to grow more barley and hops. Not sexy enough I guess.

This. I just switched to an all grain brewing process and I give my neighbor all the grain husks for composting. I'm going to start my own compost in the spring and plant some aroma hops (too far south to grow the high alpha variety.)

TwowheelinTim		2011-02-13 08:24:21 PM

Bonzo_1116: ...Mmmmmm Ben and Jerry's

Got a pint in the freezer. Time to go induce a case of the munchies...

StanTheMan		2011-02-13 08:41:03 PM

The birds enjoy my spent grains. But damn, do they start to smell after a while.

Going to brew tonight, a lamer extract batch.

Tainted1		2011-02-13 08:48:43 PM

culebra: You could also just process it aerobically (compost it) and use the results to grow more barley and hops. Not sexy enough I guess.

So your saying the brewery should spend a few hundred million buying up hundreds of thousands of acres of land?

MakerGrey		2011-02-13 08:55:54 PM

I got some wort from Goose Island here in Chicago a few years back. Made some fun desserts with it.

/pastry chef by trade

mrlewish		2011-02-13 08:59:06 PM

Smidge204: mrlewish: There is no net gain here folks. What they did is turn their waste into a movable marketable commodity. They could of always burned the leftover grain to power some of their equipment (and probably did).. but they can probably get their power from a power plant that can do it cheaper thus allowing them to turn the previously burned waste product into fuel.

You have to dry it before you can burn it. Drying takes time and energy, especially when the waste is mostly water. On the other hand, you can employ bacteria to convert a portion of the waste into methane and burn THAT instead, saving the energy from the drying process, and still have leftovers that can be used for other things if it's economically viable.

So yeah, there IS a net gain here. Thermodynamics is hard stuff, yeah?
=Smidge=

I disagree, drying to a decent state takes virtually no time and minimal energy. a simple compression of the material with a small particulate sieve can probably get rid of 98% of the water. If your just gonna plain burn it you don't need 100% dry.

ultraholland		2011-02-13 09:05:26 PM

stay the fark away from my Vegemite

Gawdzila		2011-02-13 09:13:06 PM

ultraholland: stay the fark away from my Vegemite

Don't worry, I'm sure they can save a few jars worth for the 10 people in the world that will eat that horrendous stuff.

Gawdzila		2011-02-13 09:16:03 PM

WinoRhino: culebra: You could also just process it aerobically (compost it) and use the results to grow more barley and hops. Not sexy enough I guess.

This. I just switched to an all grain brewing process and I give my neighbor all the grain husks for composting. I'm going to start my own compost in the spring and plant some aroma hops (too far south to grow the high alpha variety.)

Great for home brewers, not such an efficient idea for breweries that don't grow their own ingredients (or whose suppliers aren't down the street).

AuntNotAnt		2011-02-13 09:29:37 PM

Noooo!

My preeecious...

Jim_Callahan		2011-02-13 09:30:29 PM

Sudo_Make_Me_A_Sandwich: namatad: anaerobic methane digester
how is this an invention or even news?

FTA: "But PurposeEnergy says its digester is the first in the world to extract energy from the spent grain and then re-use it in the brewery, and all in one place"

That's like saying "we've known about internal combustion for decades, how is the release of the new Ferrari news?"

It's not news because recycle streams for heat/energy have been becoming increasingly standard for the last half-century, and have been an element of plant design in one form or another since the 1700s?

I mean, I can see the vague interest in this as sort of a "this is where industry's at along its expected lines of development" thing, but it's, firstly, not an invention (the word for things that are not new, but are better is "innovation") and secondly it's not really newsworthy in itself.

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