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Coffee: Not Just A Morning Boost, Also A Renewable Energy Resource

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 20:42 PST, Sep 14, 2015

Most of us know the benefits of a cup of coffee to start our day, but it turns out leftover coffee grounds, normally chucked in the bin, can be used to power more than just our bodies.

Researchers at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea have found that coffee grounds can be used to power homes and even combat global warming, due to their ability to store methane.

Tech Insider reports that coffee grounds are highly absorbent, and the researchers have now developed a simple process, enabling the grounds to absorb methane, a far more dangerous gas than CO2, from the atmosphere. Even better, results can then be burned to produce electricity, making it a far cleaner source of energy than other fossil fuels commonly used.

How did this come about? It turns out the idea came to the lead author of the research paper while sipping a cup of coffee at work. Christian Kemp, who has now moved over to Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea, said he and his fellow scientists were sitting around drinking coffee and looked at the grounds, pondering ways of using them effectively.

“We were sitting around drinking coffee and looked at the coffee grounds and thought, ‘I wonder if we can use this for methane storage?'”

“The big thing is that we are decreasing the fabrication time and we are using cheap materials. The waste material is free compared to all the metals and expensive organic chemicals needed in other processes – in my opinion this is a far easier way to go.”

The process apparently involves soaking the waste coffee grounds in sodium hydroxide and then heating the mixture to around 900 degrees Celsius in a furnace.

In less than 24 hours, this process produces an effective “carbon capture” material – a fraction of the time it normally takes to make other carbon capture materials.

The new research has been published in the journal Nanotechnology and is based on tests using 100 percent Colombian coffee (dark roast and fine ground) which the scientists obtained “in house.” Not a bad way to start the day at work, while using the results so effectively to power homes effectively and cleanly!

While not using the same scientific process, it is interesting to note that the city of London has already come up with a scheme to use coffee as a renewable energy source. According to Edie, some 15,000 homes across London will be heated using waste coffee beans from local baristas in an effort to embrace the green economy in that city.

The scheme was developed by a biofuel company, Bio-bean, which has developed a process to turn waste coffee beans into energy. The company won the Low Carbon Entrepreneur Award back in 2012. Reportedly every ton recycled through Bio-bean’s process can save up to 6.8 tons of the CO2 equivalent.

Arthur Kay, Chief executive of Bio-bean said: “The first ever Low Carbon Entrepreneur Award gave me (and Bio-bean) a great start.”

“The London collection service marks a milestone in our UK development, as we collect waste coffee grounds at every scale, saving money on waste disposal fees and creating sustainability advantages for each of our clients.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson bragged about how 15,000 homes will benefit from the process, with a few clever puns thrown in.

“The roaring success of previous winners like Bio-bean demonstrates the huge market for green technology ideas. They’ve done the hard grind and Londoners can now enjoy their daily coffee fix in the safe knowledge that as well as their own caffeine kick the energy levels of as many as 15,000 homes are being boosted.”

It seems that on a regular basis, more and more reasons coffee is just plain good for us keep on coming, making the tasty brew more than just a way to power ourselves in the morning.

[Image: Colombian coffee CC BY 2.0 McKay Savage]

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