Denver Craft Brewery & Dispensary Team Up To Use Excess CO2 To Grow Pot

DENVER (CBS4) – In Colorado it's no surprise that the craft beer and cannabis industries are teaming up. The most recent venture is a partnership between Denver Beer Co. and The Clinic to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The pilot program captures and stores excess carbon dioxide produced during the beer fermentation process for later reuse by cannabis cultivators that require carbon dioxide to stimulate plant growth during cultivation.

"Our CO2 is sort of like a fertilizer for a plant. Plants use sunlight and CO2 to grow. They were always using CO2 but now they're using it from a local source, from a Colorado craft brewery," said Charlie Berger, Co-Founder of Denver Beer Co.

They will use technology created by Earthly Lab to capture carbon dioxide and the brewery is expected to capture more than 100,000 lbs. per year, officials say.

"If we didn't use this program, we'd be using manufactured CO2, shipped across the country on a truck, which has a much larger carbon footprint," said Max Cohen, CEO of The Clinic.

Charlie Berger says they're proud to not only be located in Colorado, but are now able to support other Colorado businesses.

"We are the first that we know of to be capturing CO2 from beer and using it to grow marijuana."