[미국] 중앙 아메리카 농장, 커피폐수를 사용해 에너지 생산

커피산업에서 생산되는 폐수로 인해 발생하는 건강 및 환경 문제를 다루기 위한 노력인 커피 폐수 프로젝트의 UTZ 인증 에너지는 에너지를 발생시키고 커피분쇄기에서 처리 배출함으로써 수자원을 보호하고 기후변화 막는데 기여한다고 밝혔다.

UTZ 인증은 농업 생산물의 지속가능한 농업을 위한 프로그램 및 라벨이며 니카라과의 8개의 커피 농장과, 온두라스의 10개의 농장, 과테말라의 1개의 농장에 설치된 맞춤 커피 폐수 시스템과 고체 오물 처리기계를 장려하고 있다. 이 지역에서 프로젝트의 환경, 경제적 효과는 단체가 다른지역에서도 비슷한 계획이 시행되게 촉진했다.

라틴아메리카는 세계 커피의 70%를 생산하며 세계 담수 자원의 31%을 가지고 있다. 그러나 커피 생산은 많은 폐수를 발생시키고 처리되지 않은 폐수가 강으로 배출되면서 수생 동물과 식물, 하류의 지역에 많은 영향을 미쳤다. 또한, 커피 폐수에는 토양과 기후 변화에 영향을 주는 온실가스, 메탄을 발생시키는 높은 독성과 유기 폐기물과 함께 배출된다.커피 폐수 프로젝트이 에너지는 다양한 크기의 농장에서 시행되고 있으며 프로젝트의 성공적인 결과로 장작을 가정 가스 스토브로 대체한 가정에 더 나은 실내 환경을 제공함으로써 지역 자생식물의 삼림파괴를 막았다.

Recent efforts undertaken in UTZ Certified's Energy from Coffee Wastewater project, a global endeavor addressing environmental and health problems caused by the wastewater produced in the coffee industry, has proven that it is possible to generate energy, tackle climate change and protect water resources by treating discharges from coffee mills.

UTZ Certified, a label and program for sustainable farming of agricultural products, has incentivized tailor-made coffee wastewater treatment systems and solid-waste treatment mechanisms to be installed in eight coffee farms in Nicaragua, 10 in Honduras and one in Guatemala. The positive environmental and economic impact of the project on over 5,000 people in the region has inspired the organization to replicate the initiative in other countries.

Latin America produces around 70 percent of the world's coffee and is where 31 percent of the globe's freshwater resources are located. Yet coffee production generates a great amount of wastewater that is regularly released untreated into rivers, affecting aquatic fauna and flora as well as downstream communities. Additionally, coffee wastewater comes along with tons of organic waste and high toxicity, which affects the soil and generates considerable amounts of greenhouse-gas emissions, particularly methane, heavily contributing to climate change.

The Energy from Coffee Wastewater project has been implemented in a range of differently-sized farms. The achieved results of the project range from preventing local deforestation of native trees to better indoor environments for families who replaced firewood with domestic gas stoves for cooking. Additional outcomes included: 

Treatment of essentially all water used in coffee processing

Over 50 percent less water used during coffee processing
Generation of a significant amount of biogas used to power households and coffee mills
Prevention of the release of greenhouse-gas emissions into the atmosphere

"Coffee production is only environmentally sustainable when water is used efficiently and polluted water from the wet-mill process is treated. Local ecosystems do not have the capacity to clean the large amounts of contaminated fluids," said Han De Groot, executive director at UTZ Certified. "Rural communities and coffee production depend intrinsically on a ready supply of fresh water. So if we want to talk about coffee produced in a sustainable manner, then wastewater must be treated when released into the environment."
 
UTZ Certified is currently introducing the technology in Peru and Brazil. UTZ hopes to receive further funds and the industry's support to replicate the initiative in Africa and Asia.

[출처 = Water World / 2014년 8월 27일]