Reducing carbon footprint and increasing competitiveness in coffee producing organisations by the utilisation of waste materials (BIO2POWER)

• Country: Andalusia – Honduras
  Start date: 09/01/2023
  End date: 08/01/2025
  Applicant: Fundación ETEA
  Local partners: Café Orgánico Marcala, Cooperativa Cafetalera Ecológica La Labor Limitada, Asociación Denominación de Origen Café Marcala, IHCAFE, CONACAFE , Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras (UTH)
  Funder: AACID
  Funding: 80.000,00 EUR

The project aims to contribute to the goals of affordable and clean energy (SDG7) to combat climate change (SDG13) through the recovery of waste from coffee cooperatives and producers in the western region of Honduras. To this end, Honduran coffee producer organisations will work to learn about and incorporate pilot technologies for the production of clean energy from coffee waste, reducing the risk of contamination and increasing their competitiveness.

The initiative studies the techno-economic viability of different routes of energy recovery from coffee processing waste (process innovation). On the one hand, the use of waste would improve the competitiveness of cooperatives and producers, and reduce the environmental footprint of the process by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels (diesel). On the other hand, it would eliminate the serious environmental problem of dumping some of these wastes (pulp, honey water) on the land, with the consequent contamination of rivers and aquifers. The methodology includes the development of experimental work in the field by our group of experts (who have already visited the working environment). As an innovation, developments on waste cogeneration and biofuel production will be applied to the coffee sector, with the aim of creating a roadmap towards more economically and environmentally sustainable producer associations.

Results
R1. Proposals to reduce energy consumption of coffee production plants identified.
R2. Experimental and pilot capacity building for the assessment of the potential for biofuel production from organic waste is carried out.
R3. Knowledge transfer. Training of plant personnel for the management of the pilot and its potential scaling up.