France is no stranger to energy production as the French are currently the world leader when it comes to nuclear power.
Now, renewable energy company Valbio is turning to a new source of energy production, generating power from cheese at a power plant in the French Alps.
Yes, generating power from cheese is a very French thing to do, but don’t act like it’s not an awesome idea!
In order to generate energy, Valbio uses whey, a byproduct of cheese production, which the company receives from Beaufort cheese made in the same region.
The cheese plant is located in the town of Albertville and combines Beaufort cheese with bacteria to cause fermentation and produce a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide gasses.
From here, gas powers an engine that heats water to 194 degrees Fahrenheit, pumping out 2.8 million kilowatt-hours of energy production per year.
The Albertville cheese plant currently sells energy to Électricité de France (EDF), the largest producer of electricity in the world, proving cheese is definitely a viable source of energy production moving forward.
