Denver Beer Co. and The Clinic are teaming up for an experimental State project, a project which is a blend of economic, environmental, and industrial benefits. Yes, precisely what excites the youth of today!

The State Department of Energy & Public Health & Environment, along with Governor Jared Polis, unveiled a new pilot program.

The pilot program focuses on developing a symbiotic relationship between the beer and marijuana industries. It will allow the brewers to collect CO2, the major byproduct of the beer industry, and then ship it to marijuana growers. Marijuana growers use CO2 gas as a catalyst to improve the yields of the plants.

The program will allow the state to control carbon emissions from breweries, the marijuana growers to get cleaner CO2 from within the state, and the breweries to make the vice of the industry into a benefit. Everyone benefits!

Although Denver Beer and The Clinic are the first ones to try out the program, the Governor is hopeful of getting other marijuana growers on board, around 900, to work with the local breweries.

In the unveiling event, Polis emphasized the need for climate sustainability in Colorado to preserve other industries.

“We derive our livelihood on many industries dependent on our climate here in Colorado,” Polis said.

The Governor further acknowledged the fact that the science of marijuana growing is existing on the centuries-old methods, and is still evolving. He stressed on how he wishes the marijuana industry to be a “model of sustainability from an energy perspective, waste-use perspective.”

CO2 emissions are the result of using yeast in the fermentation process of converting sugars into alcohol. The emissions have always been a massive concern for the beer industry, which will now be solved for Denver Beers Co.

“It’s a fact that fermentation produces CO2 as a byproduct. We extract sugars from malted barley and feed it to a brewer’s yeast. That yeast metabolizes the sugar and creates CO2 and alcohol, so we need those things to make beer. It’s also a fact that CO2 is a greenhouse gas,” said Charlie Berger, co-founder of Denver Beer Co.

“The CO2 that was a waste stream for us can now be captured and turned into a revenue stream while eliminating our emissions,” he further added.

There’s also a third party involved in the process of CO2 transferring, which plays a vital role in this program. Earthy Labs, a carbon emission recycling company, is the important link in this entire program.

Earthy Labs will purify the CO2 gas before sending it to the marijuana growers at The Clinic. The growers need around 7,000 pounds of CO2 per 7,000s q. feet. According to the founder of the Earthy Labs, Amy George, this symbiotic relationship between breweries and marijuana growers could save 1,500 trees per year.

There’s also another program that will focus on energy management in the marijuana sector as the growers used almost 4% of the city’s electricity in 2018. Polis revealed the program along with the CO2 recycling program.

It’s a great initiative with something in it for each of the industries involved in the process.





