Pilot sites in energy from coffee waste show good results
Saturday, August 30, 2014 - 07:30
in Earth & Climate
Latin America produces around 70 percent of the world's coffee, but there is a hidden price we have to pay in threats to clean environments and community health. Coffee production generates a great amount of wastewater, which is released untreated into rivers, affecting aquatic fauna and flora and downstream communities. A key problem is that coffee wastewater comes along with tons of organic waste and high toxicity, which affects the soil and generates greenhouse-gas emissions, particularly methane. An international push to address the health and environmental problems caused by coffee wastewater may now turn out to be a milestone in tackling the issue, with Central American farmers using coffee wastewater to generate energy.