From November 2012 to September 2013, Juan Carlos Lopez, Senior Research Scientist at the Colombian National Coffee Research Center (CENICAFE) will participate in a scientific exchange in Peoria, Illinois. The purpose of this exchange is to study and develop the potential uses of the coffee waste stream as a source of biomass for generating renewable energy while adding value to coffee production and granting environmental benefits.

The research, sponsored by the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, CENICAFE and associated universities will focus on producing ethanol from coffee pulp and mucilage. This collaboration will directly support the ECPA renewable energy pillar and complement a parallel ECPA initiative which USDA is presently undertaking with Ecuador, Honduras and Uruguay to promote the production and use of agricultural biomass for renewable energy.