2023-10-04 22:00:00
The malting and brewing sector in France is booming, with an annual production of 1.4 million tonnes of malt and 21 million hectoliters (hl) of beer (2022), beer has thus become the favorite drink of the French.
Its mode of production is currently evolving with the development of small structures called microbreweries or “craft”. More than 2,600 breweries are in operation, but only 21 of them exceed 100,000 hl of annual production.
The sector continues to reduce its energy consumption, which is around 1,500 GWh thermal (5,400 TJ) and 500 GWh electric (1,800 TJ) overall (Franck Jolibert estimates).
The energy cost in a brewery is significant, it depends greatly on the installation and the type of beer produced, it represents between 8 and 10% of the gross cost price.
Substantial optimization efforts have of course already been undertaken, however potential for energy savings remains linked to the rationalization of processes and the reduction of fixed losses.
The applicable techniques and methods will differ depending on the size of the company.
The stages that consume the most thermal energy are the drying of the malt (thermal recovery and heat pumps are used), the boiling of the must (the recovery of steam with the production of hot water is common, but also in the future the use of heat pumps – vapor compression being a variant), pasteurization as well as the different stages of cleaning and disinfection.
For the electrical part, the important items are ventilation in the malt house (efficient motors and VEV) as well as cold production in the brewery.
Brewers are seeking carbon neutrality by developing energy efficiency and the circular economy: recycling of by-products, development of deposits, local production, etc.
To follow up on the first part which presents the malting and brewing processes, avenues for improving energy consumption are analyzed in the second part at the level of malting, then brewing or hot block, fermentation or block cold and finally conditioning. The utilities and general actions are detailed in the third part, with a focus on heat pumps, the valorization of by-products, and cogeneration. In conclusion, insight into the processes that can develop is provided.
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