British brewery first in the UK business to install low-emissions heat pump

Sussex-based Hepworth Brewery is using a Greensteam heat pump, developed by Surbiton start-up Futraheat, to deliver low-carbon heat to fuel the brewing process.

Unlike most heat pumps, which deliver hot water up to around 80°C, the Futraheat heat pump can produce steam up to 130°C – vital for the brewing industry and said to be a first for the UK.

According to Hepworth Brewery, the new heat pump is expected to reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with wort boiling by up to 90 per cent, whilst lowering fuel costs by up to 40 per cent, with potential to roll out the technology across the whole brewing process.

Heat, delivered through high temperature steam pipes, is a vital component of brewing and many other industrial processes, and is usually delivered by boilers running on gas or fuel oil.

With the new system, Hepworth Brewery can now recycle waste vapour from the brewing process, normally vented to atmosphere, and boost it via Futraheat’s heat pump to deliver useful steam back to the brewery at 130°C.

The company said this will reduce the brewer’s reliance on a CO2-emitting oil boiler and enables it to switch almost all its heat requirement for wort boiling to the electrically powered heat pump, which runs on a green electricity tariff.

The key to the heat pump is a novel, patented turbo compressor – known as TurboClaw – which sits at the heart of the Greensteam system and can boost temperatures by up to 60 degrees.

In a statement, Hepworth Brewery chairman, Andy Hepworth, said: “The high temperature heat pump from Futraheat will help us cut costs and CO2 and is straightforward to integrate within our existing processes. If this technology were adopted across the whole brewing process, it would reduce our emissions significantly.

“Sustainability has driven the way we do business from day one. We have always looked to source our barley and hops locally wherever possible, to minimise our food miles, and since moving to our current brewery in 2016 we have put in place a number of measures to make us a more sustainable business.”

Futraheat believes its technology can be applied to many industries beyond brewing – as around 70 per cent of all UK industrial energy demand is for heat, and much of this can be delivered via high-temperature heat pumps, the company said.

“Heat is a major component of a huge range of industrial processes, from pharmaceuticals to food and drink, and vast amounts of this is delivered by steam,” said Futraheat CEO, Tom Taylor.

“Until now, heat pumps have been both unaffordable and unable to deliver heat at the temperature that industry requires. This project demonstrates the technology can now be implemented within a brewery. We’re confident it can then be rolled out across a range of industries, in the UK and worldwide.”

The current project has been delivered in partnership with Hepworth Brewery and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA) programme, managed by the Carbon Trust.

Futraheat secured £2m in investment in 2023, from backers including the Clean Growth Fund, to develop and deploy their next-generation machine, which will incorporate two TurboClaw compressors to deliver heat up to 150 degrees.