Japan Brewers Developing Climate Change-Resistant Beer Ingredients - Nippon.com
Japan Brewers Developing Climate Change-Resistant Beer Ingredients | Nippon.com
Japan Brewers Developing Climate Change-Resistant Beer Ingredients
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Tokyo, Aug. 19 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese breweries are rushing to develop rain- and heat-resistant varieties and novel cultivation techniques for barley and hops, the main ingredients of beer.
Such ingredients are no exception to the impact that climate change is seen having on many agricultural products, such as lower quality and reduced yields.
"It is possible that a can (of beer) will cost 800 yen or more in the future," an industry official said regarding worries over possible difficulties procuring ingredients due to abnormal weather. In such a case, "nobody would drink beer, and (the beer market) would continue to shrink."
Sapporo Breweries Ltd. successfully developed this year barley that is both rain-resistant and creates good flavor and durable foam when brewed.
Barley often germinates if exposed to prolonged rain right before being harvested, rendering it unusable for beer, whereas the newly developed variety reduces the risk of germination in such conditions by about six-sevenths, according to Sapporo Breweries.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”