The brewer was accused of “a big lie” and burying the truth in the “small print”, despite “informally resolving” the complaint with the advertising regulator. But the company behind Budweiser insists it generates more renewable electricity than it uses in its breweries.
Budweiser had to clarify the claim on its website that its beer is brewed with 100% renewable energy after the complaint.
The complaint was “informally resolved” by the advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), meaning the brewery agreed to document statements and details of its fossil fuel use, and the issue was not made public.
Budweiser’s UK website homepage now features an asterisk next to the statement “Budweiser is brewed with 100% renewable electricity”.
The bottom of the page explains the electricity it uses and the renewable electricity it produces.
“The actual electricity used to brew Budějovice beer does not come from 100% renewable sources,” says the explanation at the bottom of the page from March.
He continues: “But Budweiser ensures that an equivalent amount of energy is generated under green energy agreements to offset the amount of non-renewable energy used from the National Grid to power our brewing processes.”
The asterisk note adds that Budweiser’s two sources of renewable energy are its own wind turbine directly connected to its brewery in Magor, Wales; and a 20-year contract to operate two solar panel farms located in Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire, which the company says produce more electricity than its breweries need.
What did the complaint argue?
Earlier this year, before the complaint was considered by the ASA, the website only contained the claim “100% renewable” and did not provide a breakdown of energy consumption and production.
The complainant, Irish Senator Lynn Boylan, argued that the text was misleading and could not be substantiated.
Everything connected to the National Grid will be powered by electricity from a range of sources that make up the UK’s fuel mix, including wind and solar as well as nuclear, oil and gas generators.
The proportion of renewables and fossil fuels varies from day to day depending on weather conditions.
It is not possible for electricity produced from fossil fuels to be filtered out of the National Grid supply before it enters a particular household or business.
Businesses that say they use “100% renewable electricity” often use a complex trading system where certificates are bought for renewables produced somewhere in Europe.
This electricity does not enter the UK fuel mix and the national grid.
What is REGO?
Budweiser, owned by the multinational beverage company AB InBev, has been able to claim “100% renewable energy” because it buys certificates known as Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO).
Certificates pay for renewable energy produced elsewhere and are designed to support renewable energy production.
Budweiser is buying REGO to offset the amount of non-renewable energy consumed from the National Grid to power its beer, the website reports.
Energy regulator Ofgem has been critical of REGO.
A report to the 2018 parliamentary debate said: “We also note that suppliers can buy REGO cheaply, making it easy and cheap for suppliers to ‘green’ some tariffs.
“Our starting point is that simply having renewables in the portfolio is not enough to demonstrate that a tariff provides support for renewables. We do not have sufficient evidence that existing renewables tariffs provide additional environmental benefits beyond existing renewable generation resources.”
In 2021, a government review of how energy retailers quote ‘green’ electricity tariffs to consumers began, a process that includes REGO.
“Few people will read the fine print”
After Budweiser added a clarification to its UK website, the ASA told Sky News: “We considered these changes sufficient to resolve the matter informally.”
But the complainant, Irish senator Lynn Boylan, appealed against the ASA’s decision to accept Budweiser’s website change and not issue a full ruling. She described the regulator’s reaction as “very disappointing”.
“While my complaint was vindicated in principle, in practice the consequences for Budweiser (UK) are too weak,” she said.
“The reality – that Budweiser beer uses fossil fuels – is buried, while the big lie – that it uses 100% renewable resources – can continue. Few people will read the fine print to discover that the claim is false.”
Ms Boylan’s complaint was made to the UK watchdog after a similar complaint was upheld by Ireland’s Advertising Standards Authority.
A statement from Budweiser Brewing Group UK and Ireland said: “AB InBev UK buys and produces more renewable electricity than it uses in its breweries. This is documented by the Europe-wide REGOs or GoOs (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin) system, which is a regulated system administered in the UK by Ofgem.”
“Our sources of renewable electricity for breweries in the UK are: A nearby wind turbine directly connected to our brewery in Magor, Wales. A 20-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) to operate solar panel farms (Grange in Nottinghamshire and South Lowfield in West Yorkshire) that produce more electricity than our breweries need,” the statement continued.
“The UK&I team have taken this complaint seriously and have worked with the ASA to amend the website to reflect all the requested changes.”
“The ASA has said it believes the changes we have made will resolve the complaint without the need for a formal ASA board decision.”