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Is Alcohol Killing Our Planet?

Posted by timothy on from the every-day-is-earth-day dept.

Andy_Spoo writes "Something that I've been trying to get an answer to: Is alcohol killing our planet? Alcohol is a byproduct of yeast, but another is CO2. As we all know (unless you've been asleep for years), CO2 is helping to warm our planet, sending us into destruction. So how much is the manufacture and consumption of alcohol contributing to the total world CO2 level? And don't forget that bars and pubs force beer through to their pumps using large compressed cylinders of CO2. Does anyone know?"

2 of 468 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bloody hell! by hankwang · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Besides, as any brewer or baker will tell you, yeast used in brewing is genetically inclined to produce more alcohol than CO2, whereas the yeast used in baking is just the opposite - it produces much more CO2 than alcohol. That's why you don't bake with brewer's yeast, or brew with baker's yeast.

    [Citation needed]. The biochemistry of anaerobic conversion of sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide produces a fixed ratio of alcohol to carbon dioxide, independent of the yeast strain. The main difference would be that baker's yeast has to be rapid-growing (the bread has only a few hours to leaven), while brewer's/wine yeast can take more time but must survive under high alcohol concentrations.

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  2. Re:Bloody hell! by jonom · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A little more than a pint, but yes you could.

    How to Brew Beer in a Coffee Pot:
    http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/235coffee.html