Natural or bio-gas is fed to the Fuel Cell , where hydrogen gas is extracted and combined with oxygen from the air to produce electricity, heat, and water. Heat is then recovered and used to heat water for brewing and the electricity is used throughout the brewery. Fuel Cells are efficient, quiet, and produce extremely low emissions.

Sierra Nevada’s commitment to energy efficiency and reducing our company’s environmental impact led us to look at many alternatives for our energy needs. One of the cutting-edge new technologies we chose to embrace that has exciting potential for our country’s future energy needs is the fuel cell. Our decision was based on dramatically lower emissions than conventional power generation, minimal electrical line transmission loss, and our ability to co-generate and use the waste heat from the fuel cell in our brewing process.

We have recently completed one of the largest fuel cell installations in the United States: We have installed four 250-kilowatt co-generation fuel cell power units to supply electric power and heat to the brewery. Our one megawatt of power output will produce most of the brewery’s electrical demand, and the co-generation boilers will harvest the waste heat and produce steam for boiling the beer and other heating needs. The overall energy efficiency of the installation is double that of grid-supplied power and air emissions are significantly reduced. Surplus electrical energy will be sold back into the power grid. Our fuel cells are further made sustainable by using the waste methane generated at our waste water treatment plant as a fuel source.