Industrial heat pump could cut New Belgium’s carbon footprint

FORT COLLINS — The flavor of the beer is in the boiling time. For each of the New Belgium Brewing’s brews there is a specific boiling time. So, in addition to the mash of malt and grains the brewery needs lots of very hot water.

Half of New Belgium’s direct greenhouse gas emissions — about 4,100 tons of carbon dioxide a year — comes from burning natural gas to make steam, but the brewery is set to embark on an experiment to replace a gas boiler with a first-of-its-kind, industrial electric heat pump.

“It would be nice to be able to get off natural gas,” said Katie Wallace, New Belgium’s chief environment, social and governance officer.

Less than a half-mile from the brewery at Colorado State University’s Powerhouse Energy Campus, the startup company…