From MolsonCoors & Alex Parker:
Molson Coors Beverage Company is moving its Fort Worth brewery to wind-powered, 100% renewable electricity this month, a move that gets it closer to meeting its 2025 sustainability goals – and ultimately its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
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The company has signed a long-term agreement with EDF Energy Services to receive approximately 72,000 megawatts of power generated by the King Creek Wind Farm in north-central Texas, which went online late last year.
With the agreement, Fort Worth becomes Molson Coors’ first brewery in North America to be powered by 100% renewable electricity. The company’s U.K. business switched to 100% wind power in 2021.
“We work hard to make sure our brewery is efficient and a good steward of the environment. This project helps us achieve both,” says Jim Crawford, the brewery’s general manager. “We’re seeing more and more wind-energy projects across Texas, and it’s exciting that our brewery is supplied by one of them.”
The deal with EDF Energy Services ensures the brewery will have a reliable source of power – even when the wind isn’t blowing. The brewery’s power will be delivered via the local power grid with no change in service. (The brewery already uses some renewable energy in the form of biogas from its on-site anaerobic waste pretreatment system, which supplies about 10% of the gas needed for the brewery’s steam boilers.)
The move to renewable electricity is expected to substantially reduce the brewery’s net emissions, says Rachel Schneider, Molson Coors’ vice president of sustainability.
“Fort Worth is our fifth-largest brewery, and it represents about 6% of our total direct emissions. Getting Fort Worth to 100% market-based renewables for electricity will have a measurable impact for us as a company,” Schneider says.
The move will help Molson Coors meet its 2025 sustainability goals, which includes reducing direct emissions by 50. The Fort Worth project opens the door for similar transitions at its other North American facilities.
The company has put sustainability at the forefront of its business, establishing targets in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Notably, it announced last year all that of its North American brands will transition to cardboard packaging by 2025, led by Coors Light. Nearly 100% of its packaging globally is reusable, recyclable or compostable.
A massive overhaul also is underway at Molson Coors’ Golden brewery that will make it one of the most efficient breweries in the world.
Today, 17 of Molson Coors 25 breweries send zero waste to landfill.
Meanwhile, the company backs numerous water conservation projects across North America, and its Terrapin Beer Co. craft partner uses solar power to help brew its beer.
As with many sustainability projects that provide long-term environmental and financial benefits, the switch to renewables will cost Molson Coors at the outset. But the investment underscores the company’s commitment to doing the right thing, says Crawford.
“We aren’t afraid to spend money to do the right thing,” he says. “A lot of companies aren’t willing to do that.”
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