Crafting Beer, Capturing Carbon: Oscar McMahon and Richard Adamson, Young Henrys

Oscar McMahon and Richard Adamson are proving that even a cold beer can be part of a climate solution. Working with the University of Technology Sydney, Young Henry’s has installed bioreactors that capture the carbon dioxide released from the fermentation process and use it to grow algae. That algae can then have others uses such as a food supplement to potential biofuels.

The system is compact, modular and visible to visitors to the brewery – a working example of what’s possible when industry and research collaborate. According to Oscar "We could knock down our whole site and plant trees, and... it would take years before they did the same amount of carbon sequestration and oxygen creation as those two bioreactors. As an urban carbon sequestration and oxygen producing solution, it's mind-blowing."

Richard articulates a vision beyond his business – "The aim is to really prove this as a system and then roll this out to other breweries across the world."