Is coffee’s future carbon-neutral?

SANTA MARÍA DE DOTA, San José – Some Costa Rican coffee will have a special place at this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, and not just for stimulating the minds of world leaders. Coopedota, a coffee cooperative based in Santa María de Dota, in the coffee-producing Los Santos region south of San José, will be presented at the conference as an example of green innovation in the face of a changing climate. In March, Coopedota was recognized as the world’s first carbon-neutral coffee producer, a distinction achieved by reducing energy use, improving water consumption practices and generating energy from organic material formerly discarded as waste. “This is work we’ve been doing for 15 or 16 years,” said Iván Solís, who is in charge of energy cogeneration at Coopedota. “It’s not something we were able to do in one year. It is a cultural change. The coffee bean itself only makes up 18 percent of the coffee fruit. Traditionally, the other 82 percent of the fruit, made up of a sugary membrane, a red outer skin and paper-like pulp, is discarded in the quest for that roast-worthy bean.