Solar Powered Coffee Roaster
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 11.29.05
Well we've covered news of a biodiesel-powered coffee roaster previously. But now there's word that two brothers — Mike and David Hartkop — have created a solar powered coffee roaster. Their solar roaster is a parabolic mirror array that focuses on a roasting drum and heats it to 600° F. The drum's motors are also solar powered. The roaster can crank out 7 pounds of coffee per hour when the sun is a shinin'. Solar Roast :: Solar Roast via Unplugged Living


















This is a genius idea. I'm sure the use of fossil fuels to roast coffee doesn't immensely affect global warming -- still, these guys have found a way to do with out. What it doesn't mention in this post is that on the Solar Roast blog these guys are looking for investors so that they can purchase land somewhere in the Southwest with year-round sun and build a second roaster for year-round operation. Also, they deal almost exclusively in fair-trade and organic coffees. What could be more TreeHugger than that?