The next time you enjoy a little Bacardi, you can swallow easy knowing that it was distilled with a bit of help from the wind.

The company, in partnership with Aspenall Energies, has installed two industrial 250kW turbines to help power its top global distillery near San Juan, Puerto Rico. In all, they will generate approximately 1,000,000 kWh of electricity per year accounting for three to seven percent of the power used by Bacardi, roughly the consumption of the facilities tourism-related activities at its Casa Bacardi Visitor Center (and equivalent to the consumption of about 100 average households) with an expected carbon offset of more than 900 tons of CO2 per year.

“Puerto Rico relies on fossil fuels for virtually all its energy, so we hope other companies will follow this great leadership by Bacardi to use wind energy and other renewable energy sources,” said Puerto Rico Governor Luis G. Fortuño.

Using wind isn’t Bacardi’s only green initiative. The company has pioneered and patented the anaerobic treatment of distillery wastewater now used by other companies around the world. The resulting biogas is fed into the boilers which power the distillery. This saves about half the energy needed to run them. In addition, the company captures carbon dioxide during the fermentation process and sells it to third parties; mostly for carbonated beverages. Bacardi also treats wastewater that is then used in cooling towers during the production process. This saves 22,000 gallons of water every day.

Should the wind power initiative prove successful, Bacardi has hinted that further turbines and other renewable energy technologies may be added down the road. Cheers!

Categories: Eats.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

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