In the heart of Tuscany, beer is flavored with sustainability. In addition to water, malt, barley and hops, the brewery “Vapori di Birra” in Sasso Pisano, in the province of Pisa, uses a special ingredient in its recipe: geothermal energy.
Located in the heart of the Tuscan geothermal area, “Vapori di birra” is the first Italian brewery to use the heat from the earth for its production, continuing the centuries-long history that links Tuscany to geothermal energy.
Not far from the brewery, you can find Enel Green Power’s historic Sasso 2 geothermal plant, remodeled in 2009 and equipped with 20 MW of installed power.
Through a system of carefully studied ducts that are shared with district heating, the vapor from the plant is routed toward the brewery, which uses it for all the beer production phases that require heat.
The vapor gets to the brewery at about 230° and, with a heat exchanger, is turned into water heated to 136° and inserted in a closed circuit.
Editor's Note: Klamath Brewery in Klamath Falls in southern Oregon also uses geothermal heat for it's brewing operations.
From the Global Geothermal News archives:
From the Global Geothermal News archives:
- Tuesday, January 29, 2019 - Italy: Geothermal-Powered Beer from Larderello
- Thursday, February 5, 2015 - Italy: - Geothermal Beer Added to EGP’s Green Menu
- Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - Italy: Brewery Says ‘Cheers’ to Geothermal Energy
