Coffee has long been the fuel of invention, but in the “let’s get all geeked out on 10 cups of coffee at 2:00am and brainstorm how to change the world” sense. It’s never been meant literally until now. 3DomFuel, a Fargo, North Dakota-based start-up, manufactures 3D filaments (the things used in 3D printing) out of coffee waste that can be used as, you know, literal fuel for invention.
Before we go any further, we should note that everyone’s first idea – making a coffee cup out of coffee – is a no-go. The company’s website notes that the coffee filament contains a PLA polymer that is unable to withstand high heat. So no coffee. Unless you want to do like a cold brew-only cup or something, but that doesn’t even make sense. Or does it?
Now that your dreams have been sufficiently squashed, let’s continue.
The coffee filament is called “Wound Up” and is part of 3DomFuel’s line of products made from agricultural waste, which includes other fun filament bases like hemp and beer. In an article for CNN Money, the cofounders of 3DomFuel – 26 year-old John Schneider and 24 year-old Jake Clark – state the agricultural waste filaments were created as a means of distinguishing themselves in the competitive 3D filament marketplace. Schneider states:
We found a local company that specialized in mixing agricultural waste with plastics to create new materials. It was doing this with coffee waste from local roasters and we decided to try it.
Schneider also says that Wound Up smells like “sweet latte” but that it dissipates after the printing is done.
The going rate for a 500g coffee spool is $49.99, which the article notes is 60-80% higher than regular plastic filament. But still, thanks to 3DomFuel you now can have a coffee at a 3D café while making a coffee item (maybe a filter holder or something, but NOT a cup) out of coffee. We are in the future, folks.
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
*top image via PSFK.com
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