It’s finally here–the world’s first biodiesel-run coffee roaster–right here in our own backyard! We first heard about this project at the beginning of the year, when we were looking to release Greg Pahl’s [1] Biodiesel book. I’ve got to admit, I kind of had doubts about whether the roaster would ever come to be….but [2] Vermont Coffee unveiled the machine this week, and hopes to talk it up next month at the Natural Products Expo in DC. The [3] Addison Independent ran a story on Vermont Coffee and the roaster yesterday, and I was surprised to read how much the company has grown recently. Apart from being 30% more fuel efficient, the new roaster is supposed to help VT Coffee meet their needs without running their two older roasters 12 hours a day.

Normally when you hear about sustainable coffee you hear about organically grown beans or fair trade, but the bio-fueled roaster could be another answer to the question:[4] What is Sustainable Coffee?