Diageo category head of global beer supply Colin O’Brien with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar mark the company announcement. Photograph: Marc O'SullivanDiageo is to invest €200 million in Ireland’s first purpose-built carbon-neutral brewery at a greenfield site in Newbridge, Co Kildare.
As the production of lagers and ales is transferred to the new facility, St James’s Gate will increase the production of Guinness to meet global demand and to scale up the use of renewables technology. Colin O’Brien of Diageo, category head of global beer supply, said the group’s plans for a brewery in Kildare, and developments at St James’s Gate, would enable growth in overall beer exports from Ireland in a sustainable way.
Diageo’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2030 was on schedule, he said, while decarbonising its scope 3 supply chain emissions was most challenging — it has committed to reducing associated greenhouse gas by 50 per cent.