Green beer? Brewing up new solutions to climate change

A brewery in Australia is hoping to help fight climate change one beer at a time, with the help of two green bioreactors filled with trillions of micro-algae.

Carbon produced from the fermentation of a six-pack of beer can take a tree up to two days to absorb, experts say.

The co-founders of Young Henrys brewery in Sydney set out to find a way to reduce the carbon footprint of their brewery.

With the help of scientists at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), they found their answer: micro-algae.

The carbon emitted by the fermenting beer is captured and fed to the algae, which then reproduces and transforms the CO2 into oxygen.

The two 400-litre bioreactors, which each take up around one metre of floor space, produce as much oxygen as two hectares of bushland, Young Henrys co-founder Oscar McMahon says.