Coffee: The Next Green Fuel

Cost-effective and eco-friendly biofuel continues to occupy the interest of green fuel makers. The latest venture in this direction takes coffee as the new source of biofuel that would cut the energy expenditure involved in biofuel production by a significant proportion while easing the stress on the use of conventional fuels and also reducing harmful emissions.

The first breakthrough in deriving biofuel from coffee happened in 2006 in Brazil – world’s leading producer of coffee – where coffee beans were used by a team of engineers for making biodiesel. The technology thus developed emerged as a cost-effective means of relatively inexpensive biodiesel since the fuel was extracted from low-quality coffee beans, those not approved for dietary human use. With a modest production capacity of 45 million kilos of biofuel, coffee beans serve as an easily available raw material for biofuel production. Biodiesel derived from coffee beans is currently being used in Brazil in some trucks and tractors on coffee cooperatives.

A team of chemical engineers at the University of Nevada, USA, have recently proposed that used coffee grounds can prove an ideal source of cost-effective green biofuel. Varying according to the type of coffee, used coffee grounds hold as much as 11 to 20 percent of fuel (oil) and all of it can be converted to biodiesel through an inexpensive process. As the global coffee production exceeds 16 billion pounds per annum, an estimated 340 million gallons of biodiesel can be extracted from used coffee grounds each year – profitable by over $8 million in America alone! Not to miss the fact, of course, that the residue left after the conversion can easily be turned into ethanol or applied as compost in gardening – all eco-friendly uses. Another remarkable quality of biodiesel derived from coffee grounds is the presence of antioxidants which reduce the degradation of biodiesel.

But biodiesel is not the consummation of coffee as a source of energy for running machinery. Electric power generation from coffee husks is already there. Essent, a Dutch energy company, has started the generation of power from coffee husks imported from Brazil. Pellets made of compressed coffee husks have been used in some power stations of Essent to produce ‘bioelectricity’ on experimental grounds. Successful generation of cost-effective green power is being planned from further import of coffee husks from Brazil. Essent anticipates that power generation from coffee husks will cut carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 90 percent. With positive results, the power-generation technology can then be replicated in other places, particularly in countries like Brazil with high annual produce of coffee.

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One Response to “Coffee: The Next Green Fuel”

1. espresso coffee machines says:

   February 20, 2010 at 4:14 am

   Hello Guru, what entice you to post an article. This article was really fascinating, in particular since I was looking for opinion on this theme last Saturday.