Zero Carbon Footprint?
Ken and I were having a discussion about sustainability at the Silver Lake roasting facility. I had been doing some research into businesses operating with a zero carbon footprint or even a carbon negative footprint. To sum it up sloppily, a zero carbon footprint means that your emissions and energy usage are made up by use of sustainable energy. In the discussion, I brought up how amazing it would be to get the roastery operating at a zero or negative carbon. In one of the many things that makes Roaster Ken the best he says, "We are carbon negative."
I knew the solar panels Ken installed produced electricity, and I knew he used geothermal energy to heat and cool the roasting facility, but in the tornado of preparing for the open, I had never learned the details of energy usage. In Lamen's terms, between the electricity produced by solar energy and the heating capability of the geothermal energy, the only component creating any emissions output is the gas that powers the roaster. However, the energy produced through gas power is offset by the sustainable solar and geothermal power. The geothermal energy is so efficient that it is used to heat/cool Roaster Ken's house and still has enough energy for the roastery. Ken doesn't get an electricity bill, he gets an electricity check! Now for Roaster Ken's technical description below:
"Well, there are a couple ways to look at it. You could say that the whole roastery electric power comes from grid connected solar panels. Or the one I like is that the solar array is a Qualified Facility for generating a peak of 22.5 kilowatts of A.C. power back to the grid. The roaster consumes far more b.t.u. of electric power than it uses in L.P. gas.
The Geothermal Energy coupled with a water to water heat pump is used to do heating and air conditioning and uses 2 to 3 times less electrical power than electrical resistance heating. Currently it is for Ken and Ani's home heating but has enough left
over capacity to be used as an even more efficient means to heat and cool the roastery. You might also mention that any use of geothermal energy allows for more solar energy to go back to the grid. This whole property has a minus power consumption. It is a lot more complicated than what 99 percent of the population has."
Where have we been?
We launched! Holy smokes! We are currently in 6 stores throughout the Twin Cities with another 4 partners coming on board this week. Keep up with all the locations on the website under the banner link "Where to Find Folly". We seek out partners that focus on quality first and emphasize local businesses. I have been sampling like crazy, so keep an eye out for one of your local stores. Feedback on the coffees have been positive, which is very exciting to see others sharing in our excitement of the roasts. Also, we just did an awesome collaboration with LynLake Brewery and Sssdude-nutz donuts. LynLake infused three of their beers with Folly Coffee and Sssdude-nutz made some killer donuts and we did some pop-ups yesterday. It was amazing!
Where are we now?
It feels like I'm simply managing the chaos, riding the wave, however you want to phrase it. I'm finding organization to be key to keeping everything running smoothly, especially with coffee ordering and roasting. Basically learning on the fly to be honest...
Where are we going?
Keep an eye out today at noon for a cool announcement of a collaboration with another local roaster. Collaborations are rarely seen in coffee because it is such a competitive industry, so this is a truly unique launch. I continue to seek out partners with the same emphasis on quality, so if you know any stores, hit me up! or let them know!!
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