March 6, 2008 - This green beer has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day: Cascade Brewery, a subsidiary of Australian beer giant Foster's, has unveiled a resource-efficient, carbon-neutral lager made from locally sourced ingredients.

The new Cascade Green lager has been certified under the Australian government's Greenhouse Friendly Program (GFP), one of just a few products currently approved under the program. The company has pledged to offset 100% of emissions from product  manufacture via investment in GFP-approved renewable energy projects.

Cascade has also taken steps to green its product packaging. Cascade Green is sold in a lightweight, recycled-content glass bottle, and beer cartons are made from 100% recycled-content paperboard and printed with biodegradable vegetable ink.

"Reducing our carbon footprint makes good business sense," says Foster's sustainability manager Scott Delzoppo. "The work completed to understand and reduce the carbon footprint of Cascade Green is an important input into our continuing group efforts to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions."

Last May, the company partnered with scientists at Australia's University of Queensland to develop a way to generate clean energy from brewery wastewater.