[ti:Spanish Company Aims High with Indoor Growing Plan for Beer Ingredient] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]In large buildings outside Madrid, [00:03.68]Spain's capital, [00:05.08]hop vines grow under special lights [00:08.28]and close supervision. [00:10.96]A small company believes growing the vines [00:14.16]will be important [00:15.56]to ensuring a supply of an ingredient in beer, [00:19.80]the world's most popular alcoholic drink. [00:23.52]Hops are traditionally grown in areas [00:26.96]like Bavaria, Germany, [00:29.48]the Czech Republic, [00:31.04]or the northwestern United States. [00:34.28]That is because the plants need a climate [00:37.88]that has long summer days [00:40.00]and mild temperatures. [00:42.32]However, research shows [00:45.24]environmental changes [00:47.12]are driving down yields and quality of hops. [00:51.08]It is a growing problem for the beer industry. [00:55.72]Industry groups say U.S. production [00:58.00]was down 12 percent in 2022, [01:02.00]while German production decreased [01:04.40]by 21 percent. [01:06.68]Czech yields fell by more than 40 percent [01:10.28]because of unusually hot weather. [01:13.64]Spain's Ekonoke is a kind of small business [01:17.80]known as a start-up. [01:20.00]Ekonoke is growing hop vines indoors [01:23.56]to solve the problem. [01:26.24]The company uses nearly 95 percent less water [01:30.56]than traditional outdoor farming systems. [01:34.28]"We're on a mission to save the world's beer," [01:37.92]Ines Sagrario, co-founder of Ekonoke, [01:41.52]told the Reuters news agency. [01:44.16]The start-up's 11-member team of scientists [01:48.36]experiments with different groupings of light [01:51.80]and fertilizer and water mixtures. [01:55.56]The goal is to increase production of substances [01:59.60]such as alpha-acids and essential oils. [02:04.24]These give hops the bitter and fruity smells [02:07.96]that are enjoyed by beer lovers. [02:11.12]A large number of sensors are attached [02:14.20]to the vines to measure water [02:16.52]and carbon dioxide levels. [02:19.00]Special LED lights [02:21.60]change colors in the growing area. [02:24.76]"These hops have never seen any sunlight, [02:28.24]only our own light show," [02:30.48]said Javier Ramiro, a scientist with Ekonoke. [02:35.80]To finance its research and growth plans, [02:39.24]Ekonoke is working with the Hijos de Rivera group, [02:43.56]makers of the popular Estrella Galicia beer. [02:48.00]The growers said [02:49.80]the next step is to increase production [02:52.96]to three rooms of up to 400 plants each. [02:57.52]Sagrario said that in the future, [03:00.64]indoor growing areas [03:02.24]could be set up near beer makers. [03:05.16]These growing areas could reuse [03:08.04]the carbon dioxide [03:09.72]released during fermentation. [03:13.12]The company is part of [03:14.84]Anheuser-Busch InBev's [03:16.88](ABI) 100+ sustainability accelerator program. [03:23.08]This program aims to give [03:25.48]financing to companies [03:27.28]that offer improvements in environmental [03:30.60]and social problems. [03:32.64]ABI's Willy Buholzer [03:35.60]called the business "very promising." [03:38.12]But he said it remains to be seen [03:41.56]if it can grow and sell hops [03:43.76]that are able to compete [03:45.48]with traditional producers. [03:47.84]"You should not underestimate [03:50.68]traditional (outdoor) hop growers. [03:53.60]They always come up with new ideas," he added. [03:58.24]The most obvious difficulty indoor farming faces, [04:02.00]he said, is its high energy cost. [04:06.08]But Buholzer believes high energy prices [04:09.16]will return to normal. [04:10.84]He added that special varieties [04:13.84]and more harvests [04:15.44]could make indoor farming competitive in pricing. [04:19.52]"You can't make beer without hops, [04:22.68]and they don't want to produce less," Sagrario said. [04:27.80]Ekonoke's plan, she added, [04:30.04]is to set up indoor growing areas around the world. [04:35.12]"This can be grown anywhere: [04:37.40]Madrid, Sevastopol or Timbuktu." [04:42.12]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM