Athens, Georgia based Terrapin Beer Company has formed a partnership with Atlanta’s Cherry Street Energy. Through the partnership, Terrapin becomes the first brewery in the state to purchase solar energy directly at their facility.

Cherry Street Energy installed solar arrays on the brewery’s roof, as well as sunshades in the brewery parking lot. In total, the solar infrastructure will offset nearly 30% of the Terrapin’s energy consumption.

The 30% offset equates to 339 tons of CO_2e, saving 362 acres of U.S. forest a year. Think of it like taking almost 70 cars off the road, annually. Cherry Street Energy owns and operates the array, allowing Terrapin avoid steep upfront costs for the panels. CSE will sell the green energy back to the brewery at a competetive rate over their traditonal power utility.

The solar addtion is part of a larger initiatve Terrrapin calls “Terraprint,” which envelops all of the brewery’s sustainability efforts, from water conservation, soil conservation, and energy use.

“Every decision we make at the brewery has an effect. Be it the local waterways we pull from, the energy each shift consumes, the soil we help build through composting, or any of the resources we draw on to manufacture, we choose to be aware of these effects and strive to keep our impact on these resources to a minimum.” – Dustin Watts, President – Terrapin Beer Company

Over the past year, Terrapin has rolled out various sustainability improvements at their Athens facility, including LED lighting installation, steam recapture, waste compost, and the additon of a “no-idling” policy on campus.

Watts is overseeing the Terraprint Initiative. In the many years of interviews with Beer Street Journal, Watts has called for comment everywhere from the brewing deck, to mountain bike trails and hiking trails all over the world. “Sierra Nevada and New Belgium are leaders in brewery sustainablilty,” he says.

“For myself and Terrapin, Terraprint is about what is best for the communities and the enviroment. That’s what matters to us.”

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