Title |
Future Prospects of Spent Coffee Ground Valorisation Using a Biorefinery Approach |
ID_Doc |
6308 |
Authors |
Yeoh, L; Ng, KS |
Title |
Future Prospects of Spent Coffee Ground Valorisation Using a Biorefinery Approach |
Year |
2022 |
Published |
|
DOI |
10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.106123 |
Abstract |
In the UK, half a million tonnes of spent coffee ground (SCG) waste are generated annually. Current SCG management practices of landfill and energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities either underutilise its valuable constituents or have negative environmental impacts. This study investigates the prospects of SCG-based biorefineries by assessing the impact of biorefinery size, location and products on economic and environmental performances. Two biorefinery design configurations are proposed. Configuration I produces biodiesel and electricity whilst Configuration II produces biodiesel and high-value chemicals. From these configurations, four biorefinery scenarios are analysed at a 10% discount rate with 2019 as the reference year. Configuration I using SCG from London coffee establishments yields a negative net present value (NPV) of -3.9 pound million and 22% greater greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than conventional rapeseed biodiesel production. Changing the SCG source to a coffee factory increases biorefinery size by 2.3 times but still produces a negative NPV. Using Configuration II to process SCG from coffee shops significantly improves NPV. However, without on-site energy generation, its GHG emissions are greater than those from conventional production methods of the high-value chemicals. An on-site Configuration I using SCG from the coffee factory yields the best performance. It produces a NPV of 3.1 pound million and GHG emissions 85% and 13% lower than that of SCG landfilling and conventional biodiesel. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential of extracting value from SCG waste using a biorefinery approach, revealing a strong likelihood that future SCG biorefineries will be large scale and on-site of SCG production. |
Author Keywords |
Circular economy; Spent coffee grounds; Biorefinery; Biofuels; Techno-economic analysis; Carbon footprint analysis |
Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
Document Type |
Other |
Open Access |
Open Access |
Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
EID |
WOS:000774321500004 |
WoS Category |
Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences |
Research Area |
Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
PDF |
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