Earthly Labs launches CO2 recovery system sized for craft breweries

The beer-making process emits carbon dioxide (CO2), and yet small breweries still need to purchase commercial CO2 to carbonate and package their beer. Earthly Labs, a new public benefit corporation, wants to change this and offer craft breweries a plug-and-play carbon capture technology sized for their needs. Founded by veteran impact entrepreneur Amy George, Earthly Labs knew there were decades of carbon capture innovation that could be unlocked and used by small businesses and individuals.

“Earthly Labs was built on the philosophy that people will protect the planet if given the right tools,” said Amy George, founder and CEO of Earthly Labs. “Our goal is to capture one billion metric tons of CO2 as fast as possible. We believe that many of us working together in small ecosystems to do what we can — right now — is the successful formula to fighting climate change. It is not someone else’s problem to solve. It is ours.”

The craft brewing industry represents one small scale opportunity with nearly 20,000 emissions sources representing 500 million metric tons or more annually. CO2 is one of the five key ingredients in beer making, along with hops, malt, yeast and water. Brewers also use CO2 to carbonate and package their beer, commonly purchasing it from a third-party provider, which creates a closed loop recycling opportunity.

Prior to the availability of Earthly Labs CiCi technology, this capability was only available for large scale breweries. Now craft brewers can reduce CO2 purchases, avert CO2 shortages and price spikes and gain access to a purer beverage-grade CO2 that emulates the natural beer-making process. As craft brewers face growing competition, this technology gives small breweries a way to improve margin and drive consumer demand, reducing up to 50 precent greenhouse gas emissions every day and saving thousands of dollars annually.

“At Hops and Grain we are committed to environmental stewardship, community involvement and industry leadership,” said Josh Hare, founder and president of Hops and Grain Brewing in Austin, Texas, and chairman of the board of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild. “By implementing Earthly Lab’s CiCi carbon capture technology, we advance all of our goals. And we’re not just backing cleantech that reduces our CO2 emissions and costs, but we are also making better beer and that makes our customers happy.”