Ahhh, cheese — truly, a tragically under-appreciated food. Is there any meal it can't make better with its creamy bliss? Not content with enjoying cheese only with their crackers and wine, the people of Albertville in France have now found a way to include dairy in their power grid. The dairy plant, which opened in October 2023, uses the skimmed whey left over from the process of making Beaufort cheese. Mixing it with cultures of bacteria, the whey is left to ferment, producing a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide — in essence, biogas. The gas is then fed through an engine that heats water to 194º F, and the steam is used to generate electricity. The plant will produce about 2.8 million kilowatt-hours per year, enough to supply electricity to a community of 1,500 people. Electricity isn’t the only thing Beaufort cheese-making is good for — the byproducts are also used for making ricotta and serac cheese, butter, and protein powder.
