Vermont Coffee Company announces 100% renewable biogas-powered coffee roastery

The organic coffee company says it is the first US coffee roaster to achieve this goal, that has taken a long time to achieve.

Paul Ralston, founder and CEO, said: "Renewable electricity was the easy part. The real challenge was getting a renewable thermal energy source to replace propane."  ​

Methane is the input for both forms of renewable energy. Anaerobic digesters operated by Addison County dairy farms extract methane gas from cow manure and convert it into electricity. Known as ‘Cow Power’, this renewable energy source is delivered by Green Mountain Power.

 The source for the company's renewable biogas is methane recovered from a Quebec-based engineered landfill operated by EBI Énergie Inc. and delivered by Vermont Gas Company.

Vermont Coffee Company had previously made a multi-year investment in energy efficiency, having reduced the amount of fuel used to roast coffee by 70%. It did this by using new roasting technology and modifying the roasting process.

Ralston said that while the company made a large investment to upgrade roasters, the increased efficiency has made the higher cost of renewable energy less significant.