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SABMiller partners with Britain in £27m biofuels programme
January 28, 2009
By Andrew Cleary and Alex Morales
London: SABMiller was joining the UK government in a £27 million (R380 million) project to develop technology for turning brewing waste into biofuels, the company said yesterday.
SABMiller, the maker of Grolsch and Miller Lite beers, said it would investigate spent grains such as barley and hops in the effort led by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, .
The world's second-largest company said the study would be the largest public-private partnership in biofuels research in Britain.
Brewers are recycling waste materials to create fuels to cut energy costs, one of their highest operating expenses.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, uses giant balloons to capture natural gases emitted in the brewing process that are then reused at several of its plants.
Graham Mackay, the chief executive of SABMiller, said: "We believe that the development of sustainable biofuel could prove to be one of the most important contributors to solving the energy and climate challenges."
Governments are seeking prime materials for biofuels that do not displace food crops such as maize and do not change land use that harms the environment.
Studies have shown some biofuel production may help force up food prices and raise greenhouse gas emissions.
Mackay said: "The benefits of biofuels have been somewhat obscured by the negative effects of purpose-grown crops."
SABMiller's involvement with the project would run over five years, said the spokesperson for the company.
It would include supplying raw materials and its own research in addition to the financial investment.
The firm did not disclose its share of the £27 million of initial funding.
The UK might become a leader in biofuels development and generate new jobs in the "green" energy field, said Paul Drayson, the minister of science and innovation.
The EU has told member countries to use biofuels for at least 10 percent of energy consumed by road and rail transport by 2020.
Biofuels that do not compete with food crops, including those from farm and industry waste, count extra towards individual country targets.
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