Puff the magic Pepsi

The PepsiCo bottling plant in Queens, New York is now bottling drinks using its own steam. Four natural gas powered 400-kilowatt generators were installed and help produce about 80 percent of the plant’s electricity needs. Instead of letting the heat from the generators escape, the system captures and converts the heat into steam, which is then used to warm the bottles and clean the machines. This has helped the company reduce use of its boilers by 70 percent.

Robert Sherman, vice president of operations at Pepsi-Cola Bottling told The New York Times that the co-generation system is expected to recuperate its cost in three years and that the company expects to save more than $408,000 in the first year.