Wisconsin hospital is powered by beer and cheese

ByLeigh Baker

At least two interesting principles at play here:

  • Regenerative Business Principle #2: There are NO wastes
  • Regenerative Business Principle #7: Think smart, small and local.

 

Gundersen Lutheran Hospital, in La Crosse, Wis., aims to be energy independent by 2014. Hospitals use a ton of energy, so that’s a tough goal to meet. But Gundersen is getting there by piggybacking on Wisconsin’s best-known industries:beer and cheese.

Beer and cheese, while delicious, both slough off a lot of gas while they’re being made. (Not to mention after they’re consumed.) The hospital system has been sourcing biogas from a local brewery and from a dairy farm that makes mascarpone and fresh mozzarella cheese. And recently the system started getting gas from a La Crosse landfill, as well.

Read the complete Grist article here…

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