If you spend your days thinking about the 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions that are associated with boiling water to create the steam used for things like industrial power, the enormity of addressing that challenge might just make you want to grab a cold one.

And if you’re on the team at AtmosZero, your beverage of choice can be found just down the road at the New Belgium Brewing facility in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Earlier this week, ARPA-E awardee AtmosZero announced a partnership with Danish manufacturing outfit Danfoss to introduce a 650-kilowatt thermal electrified boiler at New Belgium Brewing’s headquarters facility. This carbon-neutral electrified boiler acts as a substitute for fossil-fuel based boiler systems, offering a glimpse into how today’s tech can redefine our industrial future.

While this isn’t New Belgium Brewing’s first attempt at addressing their carbon footprint – their popular Fat Tire ale recently became America’s first nationally distributed carbon-neutral beer – their partnership with AtmosZero represents the next step in decarbonizing their production process. Generating steam for brewing typically requires massive fossil fuel inputs, but AtmosZero’s revolutionary drop-in electrified boiler could help New Belgium Brewing deliver 100% renewable steam to the brewery by 2030.

In terms of the tech itself, AtmosZero’s strategic partnership with Danfoss will provide the critical components to support an innovative boiler that produces no on-site emissions, requires minimal integration time, and can operate all year long, adjust to variable demand, and be scaled by customers to as many units as needed. AtmosZero’s electrified boilers could be twice as efficient as traditional boilers.

AtmosZero recently received $500,000 in support from ARPA-E through our SEED (Support Entrepreneurial Energy Discoveries) Exploratory Topic to develop a heat pump approach that could make their modular electrified boilers the most cost-effective approach to decarbonizing process steam in the market. AtmosZero also raised $7.5 million in 2022 from Starlight Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and AENU.

Industrial decarbonization won’t happen overnight, but the partnership between AtmosZero, Danfoss, and New Belgium Brewing may be just what we need to take the edge off for now.

(Image Credit: AtmosZero)