Writer: Shirelle Lee

Due to a bustling lifestyle, people always love to drink a cup of coffee, whether in their spare time or at work. Drinking coffee has naturally become a daily habit for many people. According to an American study, coffee beans were the 121_st most traded product in the world in 2018, accounting for 0.17% of the world's total trade volume, and more than 9.5 billion kilograms of coffee are produced worldwide each year. However, the production of large amounts of coffee leads to a significant increase in carbon emissions, jeopardising global ecological development. Is there anything we could help to ease this problem? In fact, we can drink coffee in a more environmentally friendly way. Recently, Italy has developed a technology of using solar energy technology to roast coffee beans, making the production of coffee more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

This technology was developed by two Italian coffee lovers. In fact, Italy is a suitable place to grow coffee beans, with long sunshine hours and suitable places for developing solar energy. This technology takes advantage of the local environment. The team uses mirror surfaces to absorb sunlight, which directly roasts the coffee beans. The sensor on the mirror surface would calculate the angle of the sunlight in order to roast the beans evenly. After 20 minutes, the beans would be fully roasted and ready for coffee production. The whole process does not emit carbon dioxide, and can reduce the cost of heat compared to machine production. In addition, unlike the traditional method of roasting beans in hot air ovens, using this natural method of production allows the beans to retain a light aroma and makes the coffee easy to eat and digest.

For customers, there are more ways to drink coffee in a more environmentally friendly way, for example, using reusable utensils, recycling coffee grounds, buying fair trade coffee, etc. Hope we can all enjoy natural and delicious coffee under the concept of sustainable consumption!

Sources:
https://technews.tw/2021/11/10/solar-roasting-coffee/
https://news.tvbs.com.tw/focus/1629161
https://theconversation.com/coffee-heres-the-carbon-cost-of-your-daily-cup-and-how-to-make-it-climate-friendly-152629