Intro
As part of Glen Lyon Coffee’s commitment to the environment we are tracking our energy usage, carbon footprint and offsetting our carbon debt with tree planting. In Autumn 2021 our team planted a total of 250 native trees in both Dun Coillich with the Highland Perthshire Communities Land Trust and in Glen Affric with Trees for Life.
Glen Lyon Coffee is very conscious of energy usage and we have taken the following measures to reduce our carbon footprint.
- We heat the roastery entirely with locally sourced wood in two wood burning stoves. Wood is considered by some to be carbon neutral as it is a renewable resource. To help conserve the heat we produce we put insulation on the exteriors wall of our roastery, behind the wood cladding.
- The largest energy draw and contributor to global warming at the roastery is electricity (50%). Glen Lyon Coffee is working to reduce this by bulk roasting on a more efficient 25kg roaster, installed in November 2020. In 2021 we replaced our old and inefficient espresso machine (Faema E61) with a modern eco model (Sanremo Café Racer). In November 2021 we invested in an initial bank of 16 solar panels on our roastery roof.
- We burn propane in our roasters which is a natural gas which is a transition fuel towards going carbon neutral. Propane produces as much as 38 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than other fuels such as oil, gasoline, diesel and kerosene. In the next few years we intend to invest in a new generation of all electric coffee roasters.
Below is a breakdown of the energy usage and offsetting with tree planting in 2021. This shows that our roastery is carbon neutral for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Our tree planting in 2021 has the potential to go one step further by removing enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for us to be “climate positive”
Propane use for Coffee Roasters
In 2021 the Roastery consumed 1,504 Kg of propane.
Each kg of propane produces 2.99 Kg of Co2
Propane carbon emissions: 4,497 Kg of CO2
Logs for heating the roastery
In 2021 8m3 of logs were burnt at the roastery. Each cubic meter of this wood weighs an estimated 780 Kg. A total of 6240 Kg of wood was burnt in 2021. Burning 1 kg of well-seasoned wood generates approximately 1.65 Kg of CO2.
Wood carbon emission: 10,296 Kg of CO2
Electricity for the roasters, espresso machine and lights
In 2021 an estimated 8,932 KwH of electricity were consumed at the roastery.
An estimated 0.256 Kg of CO2 emission are produced for each kWh of mixed electricity generation.
Electricity Carbon emissions: 2,287 Kg of CO2
Grand Total (including wood) for 2021: 17,080 Kg
Tree planting
We planted 250 native tress including Scots Pine, Alder, Rowan and Juniper in October 2021. UK forestry Commission estimates that an average of 160 Kg is sequestered by a single tree over 50 years.
Therefore 250 trees planted equates to potential of 40,000 Kg of carbon captured.