Department of Energy award will help “green” Ben & Jerry’s Vt. operations
April 3, 2024 | By Waterbury Roundabout U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., recently shared an announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy that included Unilever’s Ice Cream Manufacturing Decarbonization project has won funding from the Biden Administration’s push to decarbonize energy-intensive industries.
An electric utility vehicle recharges at the Waterbury Ben & Jerry’s ice cream plant. The vehicles is used to move tractor-trailer containers on site. Photo by Gordon Miller
The project includes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream manufacturing facilities in Waterbury and St. Albans, according to Welch’s office.
Billed as an initiative “to green ‘Difficult-to-Decarbonize’ industries,” the award to the ice cream facilities specifically will help the company upgrade gas boilers with electric boilers and industrial heat pumps across four ice cream manufacturing facilities to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions associated with the production of packaged ice cream and other frozen novelty food products, according to the announcement.
“World-class dairy and one-of-a-kind ice cream has always been a core part of Vermont’s culture, and finding greener ways to enjoy this pastime will make it that much sweeter. In addition to decarbonizing two large manufacturing facilities in Vermont, these federal funds from the Department of Energy and the Biden-Harris Administration will help create good-paying, green construction jobs in rural communities, support local farmers, and contribute to community-building initiatives that make Vermont stronger,” Welch said in the statement.
Unilever will receive up to $20.9 million to upgrade four ice cream manufacturing facilities—the Ben & Jerry’s operations in Waterbury and St. Albans as well as Unilever plants in Covington, Tennessee, and Sikeston, Missouri. In addition to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, the plants also produce frozen ice cream and novelty products under brands including Breyers, Klondike, Magnum, Popsicle and Talenti.
Together the plants are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 14,000 metric tons per year with a plan to address 100% of heat-related process emissions. The project also will create a model that could lead to further decarbonization throughout the food and beverage sector where approximately 50% of processing emissions are from low-temperature heating. The effort is expected to create up to 300 construction jobs across the four sites.
Funding for these projects includes $489 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $5.47 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, according to the announcement.
In all, 33 projects were selected for awards through the Industrial Demonstrations Program, managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. The projects will cut carbon emissions by an average of 77% and help strengthen America’s manufacturing and industrial competitiveness, according to the announcement.