Farmers in Central America Generate Energy From Coffee Wastewater

Amsterdam (ots/PRNewswire) -

UTZ Certified publishes the results of a four-year project on
coffee wastewater treatment

The Energy from Coffee Wastewater project by UTZ Certified has
proven that is possible to generate energy, tackle climate change and
protect water resources by treating discharges from coffee mills. The
project started in 2010 with the goal of addressing environmental and
health problems caused by the wastewater produced in the coffee
industry.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140827/702499-a )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140827/702499-b )

Tailor-made coffee wastewater treatment systems and solid-waste
treatment mechanisms were installed in eight coffee farms in
Nicaragua, ten in Honduras and one in Guatemala. The positive impact
of the project on over 5,000 people in the region has inspired UTZ
Certified to replicate the initiative in other countries.

Latin America produces around 70% of the world's coffee and is the
continent where 31% of the world's freshwater resources are located.
Yet coffee production generates a great amount of wastewater that is
regularly released untreated into rivers, affecting aquatic fauna and
flora as well as downstream communities. Additionally, coffee
wastewater comes along with tons of organic waste and high toxicity
which affects the soil and generates considerable amounts of
greenhouse-gas emissions, particularly methane, heavily contributing
to climate change.

The Energy from Coffee Wastewater project has been implemented in
a range of differently sized farms. The achieved results of the
project range from preventing local deforestation of native trees to
better indoor environments for families who replaced firewood with
domestic gas stoves for cooking. Additional outcomes included:

- Treatment of essentially all water used in coffee processing
- Over 50% less water used during coffee processing
- Generation of significant amount of biogas used to power households and coffee
mills
- Prevention of the release of greenhouse-gas emissions

"Coffee production is only environmentally sustainable when water
is used efficiently and polluted water from the wet-mill process is
treated. Local ecosystems do not have the capacity to clean the large
amounts of contaminated fluids," said Han De Groot, executive
director at UTZ Certified. "Rural communities and coffee production
depend intrinsically on a ready supply of fresh water. So if we want
to talk about coffee produced in a sustainable manner then wastewater
must be treated when released into the environment," he concluded.

UTZ Certified is currently introducing the technology in Peru and
Brazil. UTZ hopes to get further funds and industry's support to
replicate the initiative in Africa and Asia.

http://www.utzcertified.org

Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140827/702499-a

http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140827/702499-b

ots Originaltext: UTZ CERTIFIED Foundation
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Mira-Bai Simón , mira-bai.simon@utzcertified.org , +31205308000