Eco Friendly Coffee – The bioreactor benefit

Mr. Steven rebello is one of the progressive coffee planters in the malnad region. His estate – ginimao estate is off the chikmagalur – muthodi road, growing bothe the popular varieties of coffee – arabica and robusta.

The coffee fruits, after ripening, are processed in the estate before bagging off to the curing works. This processing of coffee involves the generation of organic effluent, which when discharged into the natural water bodies without adequate treatment, can make the water unusable.

Mr. Rebello’s estate is bordered by a small parental stream of fresh water, which is the lifeline of the estate workers and the natural habitat in the estate. During the processing time (which usually lasts for about 4 months from November to February every year), the coffee effluent would mix in the stream and render the stream useless for about 5 months.

In order to overcome the pollution of the stream, Mr. Rebello opted for the bioreactor type of treatment system, conceived at the centre for ASTRA, Indian institute of science, Bangalore, and developed by TIDE. The bioreactor was set up to handle effluent generated from processing 4000 kg of fruit per day on an average, and 8000 kg per day at peak. The bioreactor system was set up in the year 2000 and has been operational since then. It has been able to treat the effluent consistently. The biogas generated from the treatment process has been effectively used in the operation of diesel engine on dual fuel mode, with about 60 – 70 % diesel replacement.

Mr. Rebello is happy about the whole system because he has been able to generate revenue from the biogas and compost. In addition, his coffee is now eco friendly as there is no pollution of the environment!

Read more about the bioreactor benefits