Odisha scientist Dr Sanjib Kumar Karmee and South African scientist Prof Sanette Marx have jointly developed new technical methods for turning coffee waste into clean liquid biofuels.
Other researchers of the team include Dr Roelf Venter, Tony de Milem, Jaco Louw and Chantelle Truter.In his reaction, Dr Karmee said, the success is a complete team effort and it is the output of experimental work he along with other researchers carried out at the North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
The research findings are published in the prestigious journal Biofuels (Taylor & Francis Group). Worldwide, daily more than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed.
Most of the residues of coffee grounds used to make drinks are thrown away. Around 6-9 million tonnes of spent coffee grounds are dumped in landfill every year. This is detrimental from the environment and sustainable living since decomposition of coffee grounds releases methane into the atmosphere, which is a potent greenhouse gas and has a global warming potential up to 86 times greater than carbon dioxide, said Dr Karmee.
"However, using the newly developed technical methods by us, coffee wastes can be converted into biodiesel and renewable diesel," Dr Karmee said who is presently a Principal Scientist and Head, Thermo-Chemical Conversion Division, Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute, Anand, Gujarat.