Odell touts new CO2 recovery system to cut carbon emissions

FORT COLLINS – Odell Brewing is adding a carbon dioxide recovery system built in Denmark at its Fort Collins brewery in an effort to reduce its carbon emissions while ensuring a continuous, self-sufficient supply of beverage-grade CO2. 

The system, branded Pentair Haffmans CO2mpactBrew and especially designed for smaller, craft-size breweries, was developed by Pentair PLC, a water-treatment company incorporated in Ireland with tax residency in the United Kingdom but largely managed out of an office in Golden Valley, Minnesota. In 2017, Pentair acquired the Denmark-based carbon dioxide filtration firm Union Engineering A/S.

According to an Odell news release, “breweries of all sizes utilize carbon dioxide in two key parts of their production process – one as a natural byproduct of fermentation that enters the atmosphere, and then again to re-introduce CO2 to finished beer in the form of carbonation. This unfortunate “double dip” in CO2 consumption requires that it be both produced and purchased. Odell’s new CO2 recovery system not only nearly eliminates the venting of CO2 to the atmosphere but also reuses it in the finished beer while eliminating the carbon emissions of producing and shipping finished CO2 to the brewery.”

“Throughout our 30-year history, we’ve consistently and deliberately re-evaluated our processes and production materials looking for opportunities to create better, more sustainable practices,” said Odell plant manager Matt Bailey in a prepared statement. “Without a doubt, CO2 reduction is one of the most meaningful ways we can reduce our carbon emissions and help our planet.”

The brewery is anticipating that within a year, the new recapture system will prevent 1.4 million pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. As calculated by the Environmental Protection Agency, that figure is equal to the annual carbon emission of 70,000 gallons of gasoline.

Installation of the system has begun at Odell’s brewery, and the company expects it to be fully operational by April.

“To us, sustainability means having something that can carry on past our generation. And that’s what this really is,” Bailey said. “After the seven-year mark, we see the financial return, but a project like this doesn’t fit traditional ROI calculations. Our return is closing the loop and putting more value on our planet and our future.”

Pentair has spent many years engineering and developing equipment that’s scalable to breweries of Odell’s size and finally has achieved those goals.

“We are proud to be working in close partnership with Odell Brewing Co. as their CO2 recovery solution provider,” said Molly Tsipis, Pentair’s North American director of sales, in the news release. “Our CO2  recovery plant, Pentair Haffmans CO2mpactBrew, is enabling Odell Brewing to become CO2 self-sufficient, a critical strength in the current CO2 supply landscape. By generating their own continuous supply of CO2 with Pentair Haffmans CO2mpactBrew, Odell Brewing can contribute toward a sustainable future while avoiding volatile pricing, supply risks, and quality Issues.”

Founded in 1989, employee-owned Odell has become the nation’s 20th-largest craft brewery. Started in a converted grain elevator built in 1915, it was the second packaging craft brewery to open in Colorado and the first in Fort Collins.

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