Roasteries play a central role in the coffee supply chain and significantly influence the carbon footprint of coffee. On one hand, roasteries select green coffee, which accounts for about 60% of emissions in the supply chain. On the other hand, the roasting process itself contributes to around 20% of these emissions.
Why did we measure emissions?
Over the last few years, we have developed tools to measure emissions along the supply chain. Our goal is to better understand where and why emissions occur in our processes. The CO₂ calculator played a central role in this. Now, we can make this calculator available to other roasteries so that they can track their emissions as well.
The CO₂ calculator helps validate self-assessments, uncover emission "hotspots," and invest specifically in sustainable measures.
Developed specifically for roasteries, the calculator offers a cost-effective way to keep track of emissions without needing to hire external agencies or consultants.
Our goals with the calculator
We are pursuing two main goals with this calculator. First, we want to empower the roasting industry to assess its current emissions with minimal effort. Second, the calculator serves as a basis for sharing knowledge and gathering best practices.
We see a great opportunity here for an exchange between roasteries on topics that are familiar to us all, but often difficult to pin down. By making emissions visible with the calculator, we can discuss the results together and explore industry-specific solutions in a targeted manner.
Feel free to contact us if you are interested in working with the calculator.
Life cycle assessment: Gate-to-Gate
This CO₂ calculator is based on the gate-to-gate approach. This means that only the emissions generated within the roastery or directly attributable to its activities are taken into account. In other words, it records all emissions from the moment green coffee enters the roastery until it leaves as roasted coffee.
The production of green coffee is a major contributor to the overall carbon footprint and must be analyzed carefully. Currently available databases provide inconsistent data on coffee cultivation. To address this issue, we are developing a separate cultivation calculator that offers sample calculations from farms with different farming methods (conventional, organic, regenerative, biodynamic).
Each of these calculators is based on a gate-to-gate assessment, but can be combined to create a full life cycle assessment for a specific coffee.
If you plan to include general green coffee data in your calculations, you can use the CarbonCloud database for green coffee and our transport calculator for logistics to your roastery. Make sure to account for the coffee roast loss when calculating green coffee consumption.
- Link to CarbonCloud database: https://apps.carboncloud.com/climatehub/search?q=coffee&gate=Farm
- Link to our logistics calculator: https://kaffeemacher.de/blogs/kaffeewissen/transport-rechner/
CO₂ data
Our tool primarily uses datasets from ecoinvent (v3.8, retrieved in July 2023). Our data has also been verified by Carbotech to ensure accuracy and reliability.
Note: This tool does not replace a Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) assessment and cannot be used as a basis for offsetting with CO₂ certificates. However, it is a cost-effective tool for roasteries to assess their own emissions and reflect on them. For a complete carbon accounting, you should consult a certified expert.
Our CO₂ calculator on Notion
We built our CO₂ calculator on Notion and made it available as a customizable template. Your data remains yours and is stored in your own Notion account.
Note: A Notion Plus account is required for the automation functions. However, this account can be canceled monthly, meaning the cost is only about €10 per month.
You can find Notion's privacy policy here.
Feel free to contact us if you are interested in working with the calculator.
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