Energy from coffee

Jacobs Douwe Egberts in Banbury utilises organic waste for energy
The yearly consumption of coffee in Great Britain is around 136,000 tons – an enormous potential from which the big food corporations can not only benefit in regards of their sales figures. During the production and roasting process of coffee, large amounts of organic wastes accumulates, which can be used energetically to a great extent. A model example for 2G is the project with Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) in Banbury.

Facts & figures

Application:
Biogas and biomethane plants
Country:
Wielka Brytania
CHP:
agenitor 306
Output el/th (kW):
250 kW electrical / 265 kW thermal
Operator:
Jacobs Douwe Egberts

With the implementation, the 45ºC warm coffee-waste mixture will be converted within 10 hours into biogas via the UASB Reactor. The procedure is particularly efficient also, because the reactor does not require any additional heating by the use of the existing process temperature of 45ºC. The created biogas serves as fuel to operate a block heat and power plant (agenitor 306) to produce peripheral power and heat.

The agenitor 306 is equipped with a downstream steam generator which converts engine exhaust to saturated steam. On the other hand the engines lost heat serves to provide a biological filtration of the hydrogen sulfide and supports the company with its hot water supply. Next to the already high efficient method of operation for the entire process, the project offers yet another advantage. Yearly 1,400 tons of greenhouse gases can be saved through the CO2 neutral energy production. With the implementation of the project the involved companies have impressively proved how ecological and business objectives can be connected to each other.