Coffee Carbon's Footprint - Full Article In Passion For Farming Newsletter, No. 3
“If every human being on earth consumed as much energy as the average North American, we would need nine planets to meet our needs.” This assessment of the “ecological footprint”measures humanity’s demands on the Earth’s ecosystem and natural resources. Likewise, the carbon footprint measures the impact of human activities in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced in units of carbon dioxide equivalent (CDE).
What does that have to do with coffee? A lot, since the carbon footprint of coffee is considerable. The most important factors for CO2 emissions in coffee production are the quantities of fertilizers used in the field and uncontrolled emissions of methane gases from by-products during wet processing. Depending on the method used, the production of 1,000kg green coffee can cause between 900kg and 1,400kg CDE which can be compensated for by using derivate methane gases for the drying process. To put this into perspective, a return flight from Hamburg to Nairobi and back produces about 1.450kg of CO2 emissions per passenger.
Finding innovative solutions that help reduce coffee’s carbon footprint is a major challenge for our farms and coffee farming projects all over the world. We’re looking for an ideal combination of a more efficient use of fertilizers, extended use of husks as fuel for coffee dryers and capturing and utilizing methane. For example, on Kaweri Coffee Plantation in Uganda, husk is used as an alternative source of energy in the drying process of the beans, thus reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. Further, a planned biogas digester on Kaweri will treat pulp and waste water to generate methane to be later used to produce electricity.
In Vietnam, a country that is prominent for its generous use of fertilizer, a project of E.D.E. Consulting achieved a 20% fertilizer reduction through more effective application.
More projects could refer to pesticide reduction and the use of renewable energy at processing level. Especially renewable energies like solar, biogas or hydropower are effective solutions. As these examples prove, there are many ways to reduce coffee’s carbon footprint. Yet, there is still an enormous potential for innovative and sustainable applications in this field. To everyone who would like to make a personal difference we recommend checking out www.carbonfootprint.com.