I'll drink to that!

FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- More than 6 acres of ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays are now up and running at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield, California. The deployment marks the arrangement made last year between the beverage company and SunEdison, which financed, installed and operates the solar power system Anheuser-Busch agreed to host.

The system, which has a capacity of almost 1.2 MW, generates the equivalent about 3 percent of the brewery's electricity needs. The company is considering whether to expand the solar installation and diversify the facility's on-site generation of renewable energy by putting in a wind turbine. The solar deal was one of two major efficiency moves made by the brewery last year and part of a broader eco-friendly strategy adopted companywide by Anheuser-Busch.

The facility also installed a Bio-Energy Recovery System to generate more than 15 percent of the brewery's fuel needs by capturing the nutrients in brewing wastewater for conversion into biogas. Use of the renewable fuel enables the brewery to decrease its use of natural gas.

Anheuser-Busch expects use of renewables by the company's 12 breweries to exceed 15 percent by the end of the year.The firm says that level of use would power production of more than 5 billion 12-oz. servings of beer -- about one in seven of the beers Anheuser-Busch brews in the U.S.The firm's use of renewables companywide currently averages 8 percent. Other recent eco-friendly changes in operations at the Fairfield facility include a steam recovery project to heat water in the brewhouse; installing more efficient boiler burners and air compressors; and a lighting upgrade that included replacing fixtures with energy efficient gear and timers.

Such efforts helped the brewery cut its fuel consumption by 38 percent, water use by 32 percent and electricity by 14 percent since 2004, the company said.Honored more than a dozen times for waste reduction, the Fairfield facility recycles more than 99 percent of its solid waste, including scrap aluminum and metal, glass, cardboard, wood, brewing grain, beechwood chips, stretch wrap, labels, electronic equipment and batteries, according to the firm. Anheuser-Busch has been salvaging material from its brewing process since the late 19th century, when the company started offering used grain as cattle feed. Anheuser-Busch is a member of the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders Program and has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for all U.S. operations to 5 percent below 2005 levels by 2010. Use of renewable resources is popular in the beer industry, especially among microbreweries. Here's a sampler: The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, based in Chico, California, has one of the most extensive environmental programs in the business. It maintains a 1.2 MW co-generation fuel cell plant and, last year, completed installation of a solar energy system that can produce more than 1.4 MW for the facility. Panels cover most of the roofs at the site, including the top of the parking lot, and visitors to the company website can click on tools to see how much power is being generated.

Sierra Nevada also has established heat and CO2 recovery systems, aggressive energy efficiency monitoring and water conservation and recycling programs. The company has set a goal of obtaining its energy supply from renewables generated on site. The maker of Fat Tire, the New Belgium Brewing Company based in Fort Collins, Colorado, lays claim to being the first wind-powered brewery. It put up its first turbine in 1999 and then installed one at its facility in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The company also uses the methane produced by process water treatment to fuel a combined heat and power engine. The co-generation program supplies as much as 15 percent of the brewery's electrical needs. The Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, California, has had solar power on tap since 2001. During sunny days in the summer, the makers of Boont Amber and other beer get more than 40 percent of their energy from the sun.And in Portland, Oregon, the Lucky Labrador Brewing Company, launched its first "green beer," called Solar Flare Ale, last year to mark the installation of 16 solar panels on its roof.