Objectives:
- Benchmark barley production practices in western Canada in order to establish a baseline of characteristic input types (i.e., fertilizers, fuel, pesticides, etc.), amounts and field activities patterns and to quantify associated GHG emissions and other impacts on a regional basis.
- Benchmark material and energy resource use and associated GHG emissions during the production of finished malt (steeping, germination, kilning) to establish baselines for tracking future emissions reductions.
- Identify “hot spots” for GHG emissions in the malting supply chain and process to identify where the greatest impacts can be made in reducing resource use and associated emissions.
- Review and identify the efficiencies characteristic of different malt processing systems to understand advantages and disadvantages of these systems with respect to GHG emissions.
- Determine the potential for modified malt processing methods to reduce resource use and emissions per unit of malt produced through strategies such as shortened processing time, process temperature modifications, and modifications to final malt characteristics.
- Explore modified malt processing methods to reduce water use in malt manufacturing.
- Examine the effect of barley types/varieties and their characteristics on the potential to reduce GHG emissions in the malting process.