How could hops be processed more sustainable?

How could hops be processed more sustainable?

Hop flowers must be dried for beer production. © Fraunhofer IGCV

Hop farmers and brewers can be felt directly. Heat, dryness and heavy rain harm the sensitive hop plants. At the same time, the beer production itself is not particularly climate -friendly because hop drying requires a lot of energy. Now researchers have tested more sustainable alternatives with which hop flowers can dry out low -energy.

In addition to water, yeast and barley, beer also contains hop flowers. However, this ingredient must first be elaborately and energy -intensive for the brewing process. Many hop growing companies are currently operating their drying systems with heating oil. However, the resulting emissions fuel climate change and heating oil costs burden the wallet.

Photo of two researchers in a large hop center where hop flowers are dried
Vincent Kalchschmid (right) and Stefan Roth visit Johann Brenner’s hop center in Hallertau, Bavaria’s largest hop growing area. © Fraunhofer IGCV

Pellets, heat pumps or hydrogen?

Researchers around Vincent Kalchschmid from the Fraunhofer Institute for Foundry, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV have now developed various variants for sustainable hop drying, which are both economical and that they could lower greenhouse gas emissions. In this sense, the engineers modeled, simulated and analyzed whether and how well other energy sources could be used for hop drying, including biogenic fuels such as pellets or wood chips, heat pumps and hydrogen technologies. The necessary database provided a reference operation in Hallertau, which corresponds to the state of the art in German hop construction.

The result: With all three alternative energy sources, the necessary heating output can be achieved to dry hops. However, they have advantages and disadvantages. Biogen fuels such as pellets and hydrogen obtained with the help of renewable energies can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but require a high logistical effort or an expensive infrastructure. Pellets are also subject to price fluctuations and the market development is uncertain in the case of hydrogen; In which amounts this fuel will be available in Germany and at what price is still largely unclear. Heat pumps are very efficient and use renewable heat sources. They also lower emissions, but they bring high investment costs. In addition, operators remain depending on external electricity.

Which energy source is the best?

Which approach is economically and ecologically the best depends on the respective hop cultivation and its surroundings, as the analyzes showed: Is the location well connected to an infrastructure required? Are there any roof areas for photovoltaic systems or is biogas available on site? And how big is the company as such? “All of these aspects have an impact on the choice of technology,” says Kalchschmid. “A look at the future is also worthwhile. Future price developments, and above all the availability of technologies and fuels play a crucial role in the election.”

Source: Fraunhofer Institute for Foundry, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV

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