Roasting Coffee with the Rays of the Sun

Antonio Durbe, left, and Daniele Tummei overlook the functioning of the Purosole, Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (AP)
Antonio Durbe, left, and Daniele Tummei overlook the functioning of the Purosole, Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (AP)
TT

Roasting Coffee with the Rays of the Sun

Antonio Durbe, left, and Daniele Tummei overlook the functioning of the Purosole, Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (AP)
Antonio Durbe, left, and Daniele Tummei overlook the functioning of the Purosole, Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (AP)

Combining two of Italy's delights — coffee and sunshine — a couple of engineers in Rome have created an environmentally friendly way to roast coffee beans without electricity or gas.

Antonio Durbe and Daniele Tummei have spent almost six years building and perfecting their sunlight coffee roaster.

The result is a system that needs a piece of land about the size of half a tennis court and sunny weather to roast up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of coffee an hour.

The plant is run entirely by energy from the sun. Sunrays are concentrated by a set of mirrors on a coffee roaster and even the few electrical parts are powered by a small solar panel. Sensors controlled by a computer allow the mirrors to follow the sun throughout the day and focus its light on a rotating steel basket that contains the fresh coffee beans. The basket reaches peak temperatures of about 240-250 C (450-480 F), depending on the sun's brightness, and can roast the beans in 20 minutes.

The process isn't only environmentally friendly and economically convenient. According to Durbe and Tummei, it also better preserves the coffee’s aroma, giving it a richer flavor. Unlike conventional hot air ovens, which are typically gas-powered, the concentrated sunlight roasts the coffee without heating the air around it — by penetrating the grains in a more uniform way and without burning the exterior.

Naturally, the system does depend on good weather. On cloudy days or after sunset, coffee lovers need to turn elsewhere.

However, in sunny southern Italy, a plant with 40 mirrors is capable of roasting up to 30,000 kilograms (66,000 pounds) of coffee a year, saving about 60,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to the inventors.

Their Purosole, or pure sun, coffee can be bought online, but the main goal of the inventors is selling their solar coffee roasting plants to small businesses who are sensitive to the environment. Right now, they are operating their plant in the garden of a friend.

The system can be put to other uses as well. At the end of a long work day, Durbe and Tummei place a grill in in front of the mirrors to prepare some delicious sunlight barbecue.



'Stargate UAE' AI Datacenter to Begin Operation in 2026

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
TT

'Stargate UAE' AI Datacenter to Begin Operation in 2026

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Stargate UAE project to use Nvidia's advanced AI servers The first phase of a massive new artificial data center in the United Arab Emirates will come online in 2026, likely with 100,000 Nvidia chips.

The "Stargate UAE" project is part of a deal brokered last week by US President Donald Trump to build the world's largest set of AI data centers outside the United States.

The 10-square-mile (26-sq-km) site in Abu Dhabi will eventually host 5 gigawatts worth of data centers, according to Reuters.

The first phase of that project will be the 1-gigawatt Stargate UAE project, built by state-backed UAE firm G42 in partnership with US firms OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco Systems, as well as Japan's SoftBank Group.

The companies on Thursday said that the Stargate UAE project will use Nvidia's Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, currently the most advanced AI server that Nvidia offers.

The first 200 megawatts of capacity will go live in 2026, the companies said. The group did not give a number of servers, but analyst firm TrendForce estimates that GB300 servers with 72 chips each consume about 140-kilowatts of power, which equates to about 1,400 servers or 100,000 Nvidia chips.

This first-in-the-world platform will enable every UAE government agency and commercial institution to connect their data to the world's most advanced AI models," Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief technology officer and chairman, said in a statement.