The last time we drank in the subject of coffee, I noted that reserves had hit a 20-year low.
Now a team of Canadian researchers analyzed coffee’s “contribution to climate change,” concluding people should moderate their consumption of the popular drink as a part of the solution.
Researchers Luciano Rodrigues Viana, Charles Marty, Jean-François Boucher and Pierre-Luc Dessureault wrote in an analysis published in The Conversation that pollution from preparing coffee was “just the tip of the iceberg.”“Limiting your contribution to climate change requires an adapted diet, and coffee is no exception. Choosing a mode of coffee preparation that emits less GHGs (greenhouse gases) and moderating your consumption are part of the solution,” the researchers at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi wrote.The study also found that using coffee pods to brew coffee contributed less to the carbon footprint than brewing coffee with a traditional filter.“Our analysis clearly showed that traditional filter coffee has the highest carbon footprint, mainly because a greater quantity of coffee powder is used to produce the amount of coffee. This process also consumes more electricity to heat the water and keep it warm,” the researchers wrote.
The team looked at various aspects of coffee handling, from production to preparation.
Coffee production contributed more to contributed to total emission than coffee preparation, according to the analysis.”This mechanization, irrigation and use of nitrous oxide-emitting fertilizers — the production of which requires large quantities of natural gas — greatly contribute to coffee’s carbon footprint,” the researchers said.The researchers also added that the convenience of coffee pods might lead people to double their coffee consumption and in turn make the environmental advantage “redundant.”
It appears that in addition to getting rid of gas-powered cars and electric stoves, green justice activists want us to return to….instant coffee.
Coffee snobs might not be terribly impressed, but it seems a cup of instant is the most environmentally friendly way to enjoy the drink.The finding could mean a revival for instant coffee after so many of us have turned to pods, cafetieres and filters in search of more flavour.Researchers say it uses less energy to prepare, uses less coffee per cup and there’s no waste to get rid of.
Americans have had a long-term love affair with coffee since the Boston Tea Party. We rapidly turned away from the instant when other options became readily available after World War Two.
The practice of sipping coffee made a big splash in the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party, when coffee overrode tea as the cozy refreshment of choice, Coffee or Die shares. Fast-forward nearly 200 years, America became the top buyer of coffee in the world in the 1920s, Public Goods explains.Unfortunately, during World War II, imported coffee was heavily regulated by the government, essentially cutting civilian consumption in half, as coffee was reserved for soldiers overseas. Then, when the ’60s rolled around, Coffee or Die Magazine explains that coffee aficionados moved beyond relying on instant coffee and began investing in freshly brewed java thanks to innovative chains like Peet’s Coffee and Starbucks.
I get the sense no one takes the research or the conclusions seriously. [Note…it took me some time to locate family-friendly responses to this study].
In conclusion:
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