Waste-to-Energy concept for breweries through optimized energetic usage of brewers' spent grain

Brewers' spent grains (BSG) are a by-product of the beer production which are traditionally used as animal feed. Since this option is declining, the energetic usage becomes an interesting alternative. Although a lot of research projects have been carried out during the last 30 years, still no mature strategy is available. One possibility could be the mechanical pre-treatment of BSG to reach an optimized energetic usage. Due to the transfer of digestible components into the press water, the press cake largely consists of combustible components. The press water can be digested to biogas and the press cake can be co-incinerated with wood chips. Although BSG cannot cover the complete energy supply of breweries, it can be an incentive to realize 100% renewable energy concepts at breweries.