Tsingtao Beer Stock Company Limited, which brews the well-known Tsingtao Beer, has signed a low-carbon research agreement, the first of its kind in China's brewing industry.
Signed in conjunction with the China National Institute of Standardization and China Quality Certification Center, the research agreement aims to find out how much greenhouse gas is produced in brewing beer and to help the company work out a more environmentally friendly production model.
According to the agreement, the Resource and Environment Standardization Research Institute of CNIS will monitor and analyze the greenhouse gas emissions of Tsingtao's No. 2 factory before presenting a report on the emission status, and CQCC will be responsible for reviewing the report which is expected to serve as a baseline for the company's carbon efficiency.
Fan Wei, the president of Tsingtao's brewing center, told local media that the company will invest CNY124 million over the next three years on energy saving and emission control in the hope that its general energy consumption will be decreased by 4.5% annually. Fan stressed that the company also wants to take the opportunities brought by low-carbon management and he relied on the technical strength of the beer industry's research laboratories to further promote technological innovation and improve the company's energy efficiency.
It is understood that there are still a large gap between China's brewing technology and that in advanced countries, particularly in the area of energy consumption. As a result, developed countries are using carbon tariffs and carbon trading to limit China's beer exports, and this has greatly hampered the international competitiveness of Chinese beer products.
