In the Quest for Cleaner Fuels, a Scientist Turns to Tim Hortons Coffee Grounds

by Richard Cuthbertson (CBC News) Dalhousie University chemical engineer Sophia He is converting coffee grounds into fuel that could power cars -- When chemical engineer Sophia He was recruited to Dalhousie University's agriculture school five years ago, she began to brainstorm with local farmers about how leftover organic material could be turned into useful products.

One day, she got a call from one of them wondering about used coffee grounds. So she dispatched a student to a local Tim Hortons in Bible Hill, N.S., where inquisitive staff sorted through their compost waste and handed some over.

In the world of biomass waste, coffee grounds have a leg up, according to He. For one, they are already a "beautiful particle size" that unlike other feedstocks don't need to be ground down, she said. They also contain about 15 per cent oil, which can be easily extracted.

What to do with what remains is more tricky, He said. She uses a hydrothermal liquefaction reactor in her lab, essentially a pressure cooker that turns the residue into a crude oil, one that still needs more refining before it can be used.

Sophia He has been aided along in her research by plenty of local interest. She's helped one farmer use old cooking oil to fuel his equipment. On a recent day, another farmer stopped by her office to discuss what she might be able to do with chicken feathers.

But he (local businessman, Martin Trainor) also notes the costs associated with trucking away the thousands of kilograms a year of water-laden coffee grounds that can come from a single coffee shop, and then paying tipping fees at the local municipal compost site.

"Every coffee shop, every McDonald's, everybody has the same issue," he said. "It's a waste product, organic waste product for the most part. And what do we do with it?" READ MORE

Excerpt from BBC: Two Scottish entrepreneurs are aiming to go global with their hope to replace palm oil using coffee waste. -- Scott Kennedy and Fergus Moore said they came up with a unique way to extract oil from used coffee grounds which had a wide range of uses.

Mr Kennedy and Mr Moore came up with their idea while working in coffee shops during their time studying business at Glasgow's Strathclyde university, and saw first-hand the amount of food waste in the hospitality industry.

Mr Moore told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "About 60% of a cafe's waste is about coffee grounds.

"In Scotland, that amounts to about 40,000 tonnes a year - across the UK, more than half a million tonnes.

"And coffee grounds are so heavy that it takes their waste bill through the roof."

Explaining the idea behind his Revive Eco company, Mr Moore said: "There are oils in coffee with a wide range of uses in different industries - cosmetics pharmaceuticals, food and drink, household products - you name it, there's probably a use there.

Revive Eco has already secured £235,000 of funding from the Zero Waste Scotland agency. READ MORE