NASA-funded Mars research helps breweries recover carbon dioxide

The equipment captures and purifies carbon dioxide produced during brewing so it can be reused to carbonate beer. The Craft Brewery Recovery System was in production by 2015, according to NASA’s account published on 24 September 2026: this is an established commercial adaptation, not a newly launched invention. [1]

Its origins lie in Small Business Innovation Research contracts awarded by NASA’s Johnson Space Center to Pioneer Astronautics, beginning in the 1990s. Those contracts supported systems intended to produce resources on Mars. Pioneer Astronautics founder Robert Zubrin later created Pioneer Energy to adapt the subsystems for the oil and gas industry, before the brewery application reached production.

Amy George founded Earthly Labs in Austin, Texas, in 2016 to develop small-scale carbon capture. After discovering the brewery recovery system, she obtained an exclusive licence, NASA reports. The article does not specify when that licence was granted. [1]

For brewers, access to carbon dioxide is a practical production concern. NASA reports that Maine Beer Company’s supplier ran short in 2021. The brewery’s sustainability manager, Dave Love, described the risk of beer going stale in tanks and losing access to carbon dioxide for bottling, kegging and centrifuge operations. These were potential consequences; the account does not establish that beer spoiled or production stopped.

George said continuing carbon dioxide shortages and supply volatility had become major drivers of interest in the recovery technology. NASA also reports that Earthly Labs expanded into wineries and distilleries and gained energy-company customers, with helium production another emerging application. [1]

Chart Industries acquired Earthly Labs in 2021. NASA says Chart’s expertise in cryogenic equipment helped scale the technology for applications such as power plants, though it gives no installation sizes or performance results.