That daily cup of coffee is giving one of Japan's large thermal power plants an eco-friendly jolt. Sumitomo Metal Industries says it has begun using coffee grounds as biomass fuel to power its Kashima Steel Works plant in Japan, a first for a large power

Coffee Grounds Give Jolt to Crippled Japanese Energy Grid

That daily cup of coffee is giving one of Japan's large thermal power plants an eco-friendly jolt. Sumitomo Metal Industries says it has begun using coffee grounds as biomass fuel to power its Kashima Steel Works plant in Japan, a first for a large power generating facility in the country

Sumitomo Metal says biomass fuel generated from coffee grounds currently only amounts to 1 percent of the total amount of fuel used at the plant, but it hopes to gradually increase that number. The company plans to buy

12,000 tons of coffee grounds in the first year of the project.

"Our primary source of fuel is coal, but with increasing concerns about the environment, we wanted to find an alternative source of energy," spokesman Kayo Kikuchi said. "One of our employees suggested coffee, so we decided to look into it."

Coffee grounds are mixed with coal, to produce 470 megawatts of electricity at Kashima, enough to power about 400,000 homes. While coal makes up 99 percent of that mixture, Kikuchi said the plant would significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted, by adding Java to the mix. Sumitomo Metal estimates it will slash carbon dioxide emissions by 7,000 tons this year, about the same amount generated by 1,500 homes annually.

PHOTO: Workers in coffee cherry washing and de-pulping factories on plantation grounds, process beans for eventual transport to roasting, grinding, and packaging factories, in this file photo. Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images Workers in coffee cherry washing and... View Full Size PHOTO: Workers in coffee cherry washing and de-pulping factories on plantation grounds, process beans for eventual transport to roasting, grinding, and packaging factories, in this file photo. Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images Workers in coffee cherry washing and de-pulping factories on plantation grounds, process beans for eventual transport to roasting, grinding, and packaging factories, in this file photo.

"It's a small step, but it's a significant step," Kikuchi said.

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