Jim Beam spirits producer Beam Suntory has entered into an agreement with renewables developer 3 Rivers Energy Partners to build a biogas facility at its Booker Noe facility in Boston, Kentucky.
The biogas project is part of a $400 million expansion plan at the Booker Noe distillery that will increase capacity by 50%, while reducing the distillery’s greenhouse gas emissions by the same percentage.
The plant will use anaerobic digestors to convert spent stillage into biogas which will be treated to renewable natural gas standards and piped across the street to the Booker Noe facility.
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The digestors will also produce fertilizer, which will be made available to local farmers.
Once completed in 2024, the Booker Noe distillery will be 65% powered by renewable natural gas and 35% by fossil-based natural gas.
Beam Suntory president and CEO Albert Baladi, said in a statement: “This expansion will help ensure we meet future demand for our iconic bourbon in a sustainable way that supports the environment and the local community that has helped build and support Jim Beam.”
According to the company, the project will allow the distillery to invest in high-efficiency gas boilers to maximise use of renewable natural gas, use scrubbing technology to remove carbon dioxide from fermentation tanks and, following a purification process, facilitate the beneficial reuse of more than 100,000 metric tons of high-purity carbon dioxide annually.
Beam Suntory’s investment was first announced in July this year by the state of Kentucky through a series of economic incentive grants designed to increase capacity and create jobs.
