On April 18-20, U.S. EPA held its 5th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. More than 40 college teams and other exhibitors displayed their innovative solutions for an environmentally sustainable future, including one college team that is seeking to manufacture ethanol from coffee production water.
The expo also featured EPA’s Annual People, Prosperity and the Plant (P3) award competition. A college team from Appalachian State University was awarded a P3 Honorable Mention for their project, titled “Fair Trade Ethanol: Fuel Production from Coffee Wastes.” Students involved in the project are designing and developing a coffee wastewater treatment system that would utilize sugar-containing waste water as a feedstock for ethanol production.
A partnership between a small coffee producing farm in Nicaragua and the Appropriate Technology program at ASU has been formed through various renewable energy projects over the last two years. The team of students recently traveled to Nicaragua to work with local coffee farmers and study the feasibility of the project.
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According to the project’s faculty advisor Jeremy Ferrell, waste water coming out of the coffee production process contains approximately 14 percent sugar. Disposal of this waste water, he said, can lead to water quality issues and contributes to algae blooms. Nicaraguan coffee farmers have shown a great deal of interest in using that waste water to produce ethanol, he said. Converting the sugar contained in the waste water to ethanol would not only improve water quality, but would provide local farmers with a source of viable fuel.
Although the ASU college team was not awarded a P3 grant by the EPA, Ferrell said the team will continue to look for other sources of funding. The team has completed a preliminary design for the project and intends to build a pilot plant once funding is secured.
