At the brewery, a sun-resistant foil is applied to the windows of the filtration area. This foil blocks up to around 15% of the heat radiation from the sun. The filtration area is a room that is cooled to 12 degrees to, among other things, prevent the growth of microbiology. The sun-resistant foil ensures the radiation of less heat from the sun in the filtration area, therefore less energy is required to cool the filtration area to 12 degrees. Because we generate this energy ourselves with electricity, the foil provides electricity savings for the brewery of approximately 30,000 kWh per year. This is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over 10 households.

Using a heat camera, the difference between a window that has not yet been covered with sun-resistant foil and a window that has been covered with sun-resistant foil has been measured. This measurement was made on a cloudy day, but nevertheless showed pleasant results. The heat camera shows that, on the inside of the filtration area, a window without foil has a temperature of 19.4 degrees. A window with sun-resistant foil has a temperature of 16.0 degrees on the inside. The temperature difference between the glass and the filtration area itself is approximately halved by applying the sun-resistant foil - in cloudy weather.

Along with other major Twente-based businesses, we signed the ‘Beter Benutten Twente Kanalen’ deal, aimed at ensuring that companies make better use of Twente’s canals. The goal of the deal is to transport more cargo on water. If all goes well, it will mean 900 fewer trucks will take to the Dutch roads every day by 2020. Grolsch is actively involved in the discussions about widening the Twente canal and improving the bridge and lock control system.

Grolsch has had the Lean & Green Star since 2013. We were awarded this rating because we cut the carbon emissions of our pallet transport efforts in the Netherlands by 28.7% between 2007 and 2012, making Grolsch one of the leading companies in the Netherlands. And we are still actively looking to reduce our carbon emissions even further, which is why we measure the carbon emissions of all our trucks every month, for instance. We translate these measurements into targeted actions aimed at reducing emissions, and continue to train our drivers to make their driving style as effective as possible and to reduce carbon emissions to a minimum.

In 2018, we replaced part of our truck fleet with EURO-6 trucks, which meet the most stringent emission standard. Our remaining trucks are scheduled for replacement in 2019.

Our glass and can suppliers use drive so-called ECO combo units. These extra-long, heavy trucks can transport 42 pallets, instead of the traditional 30 pallets. This approach saves as many as 80 loads of cargo every year, and this number is only expected to grow, marking a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

In 2019, we replaced our remaining domestic pallet distribution trucks with EURO-6 versions, which means that our domestic pallet distribution operations meet the highest emission standards.

In 2018, we made various adjustments to the boiling process needed to brew beer. We have managed to reduce variation in the boiling process, saving a significant amount of energy.

We can use the residual heat produced by the boilers, which is normally discharged through the chimney, to pre-heat the cold air that enters into our boilers. This helps reduce our dependency on natural gas. In order to recover residual heat from the chimney, we drew up a detailed design for a heat exchanger in the chimney in 2017. We implemented this project in 2018, reducing our natural gas consumption by 5%.

In order to meet the requirements set by the Paris climate agreement, we will have to save 9PJ of energy in the Netherlands. To achieve this, the government has made agreements with various companies (known as the MEE Addendum). In the context of these agreements, Grolsch has promised to save approximately 1.5% more energy from 2017 – 2020. The heat recovery system linked to the wort cooling system was installed and put into operation in 2019. Savings will be visible in 2020.