Coffee roasting and bio energy demand
Following up from the International Workshop on Sustainability and Resilience of Bio-energy for Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia last month, the GREEN-WIN Indonesian project team, in partnership with Su-re.co, initiated a community-based project utilising biogas to produce an organic beverage called “Sure-Brew”.
The project aims to create demand for bioenergy with the community-based organic beverage. Further integration of bioenergy into agricultural value chains enables increased productivity as well as ensuring food security. Importantly, bioenergy is a substitute for firewood and other energy sources and therefore, it effectively mitigates considerable health impacts (e.g. indoor air pollution and smoke pollution) and environment (deforestation) and has a wide potential of end uses.
Sure-Brew is an eco-friendly beverage produced locally and use biogas as the main source of energy for roasting coffee beans. The project is synergistic in that it incorporates adaptation and mitigation measure for climate change. Adaptation in the sense that, it will alleviate poverty by creating a new source of income for farmers and utilise local and climate resilient agriculture products including Robusta coffee and cacao. And mitigation in that the project will provide households with affordable clean renewable energy.
Building off of the European Commission program, as well as partnerships with the central and regional governments, Sure-Brew will also help to work toward achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals through its demand for bioenergy. The project is a brew containing coffee mixed with various flavours such as cacao, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, vanilla, pala, etc. The product is using solely organic agricultural products from Jembrana. The project will also create green business opportunities by utilising biogas for roasting as a mean to increase the demand for bioenergy.
The energy used in the production of Sure-Brew is created by agricultural waste in a biogas digester. The main biogas consumption is fuel for cooking in households. In addition, the community can use the remaining amount for roasting the beans which will be a new source of jobs and income for farmers in Jembrana. Evidently, demand for biogas in the value chain for agriculture has untapped potential.
The use of biogas as an energy source is a promising transition pathway for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while enabling households in rural areas with opportunities to diversified livelihoods as well as to become self-sustainable with access to clean energy. As such, the Sure-Brew project - using a synergy of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, incentivizes initiatives to create demand for bioenergy at the household, national and international levels.
Sure-Brew also invited the members of The Fellowship of Sustainability and Resilience of Bio-energy for Climate Change, initiated as part of the the during the International Workshop on Sustainability and Resilience of Bio-energy for Climate Change, to share the project experience. The GREEN-WIN Indonesia team is interested in sharing the project experience with anyone interested, including those interested in joining them.
Last week, the project visited coffee farmers in several villages in Jembrana, Bali. The visit was completed by the hand roasting of the master roaster. The farmers made their specialty coffee which was similar to experiences in Ethiopia, the origin of the all coffee. The project hopes to connect these coffee activities with the bioenergy project, creating demand for the energy as well as serving as a tool to improve their economy. Coffee roasting could drive bio energy demand and alleviate poverty alleviation.