Heating Belgian Houses More Environmentally Efficient Through Potato Processing

A Belgian real-estate developer recently received a sustainable heating alternative offer for its new residential area in the city of Veurne, through vapor from cooking up to 20 tons of potatoes per hour in a nearby potato chip plant operated by Lay’s.

The sustainable energy source could heat a water circuit, and replace natural gas with a more environmentally efficient process while simultaneously providing PepsiCo with a valuable carbon offset, according to Fast Company.

Lay’s Factory Home Heating – a winner of Fast Company’s 2022 World-Changing Ideas Awards – is the result of a group effort from PepsiCo, the community of Veurne, and Belgian companies Noven, which designed the technology, and Fluvius, which runs the utility grid in the area.

The technology will deliver heating in radiators and tap water to its first homes sometime in the first half of 2022, topping out at 500 households upon the project’s completion in the next 10 years.

The enterprise will help PepsiCo meet its targets to cut carbon emissions by more than 40% by 2030 (against a 2015 baseline), and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.