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Market Data
Who produces or purifies beverage grade CO₂ from biogas, ethanol, and captured sources, and who supplies the equipment. A source on every row.
Beverage grade CO₂ from non-fossil sources in the US comes from three places: ethanol fermentation plants where POET and the industrial gas majors run liquefaction, a small new group of independent biogenic capture operators including CleanCycleCarbon, and on-site capture at the beverage plant itself using point-source or direct air capture equipment. The equipment behind all three comes from a short list of vendors led by Pentair, GEA, Atlas Copco, Bright Renewables, HoSt, Earthly Labs, and TOMCO2.
The tables below name each company and project with its source type, location, role, status, and the public source we read. Last reviewed . Capacities appear only where the source states them, and a row that does not carry a beverage grade claim says so.
Companies producing liquid CO₂ from a biogenic or captured stream in the US, and the industrial sites that host them. Ethanol rows are included because fermentation CO₂ is biogenic, even though it follows fuel ethanol economics.
| Company / project | Source type | Location | Role | What they do | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CleanCycleCarbon | Biogenic and industrial capture | North Charleston, SC (headquarters); projects at industrial host sites | Producer | Independent capture operator. Develops, builds, and runs cryogenic purification at biogenic and industrial CO₂ sources, producing to the ISBT beverage grade specification (99.9% minimum) at an FDA-registered facility. | Entered continuous commercial beverage grade production in December 2024; additional capture projects in development | CleanCycleCarbon, Qualifying a Second CO₂ Supplier |
| POET (POET Pure BioCO₂) | Ethanol fermentation | Portfolio of bioprocessing facilities across the US | Producer | Integrated bioCO₂ and dry ice producer. Captures fermentation CO₂ from its own bioethanol plants and markets liquid bioCO₂ for beverage carbonation, food processing, water treatment, fire suppression, and agriculture. | Operating | POET, Renewable CO₂ and Dry Ice |
| Air Products at Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) | Ethanol fermentation | Council Bluffs, IA | Producer | Liquid CO₂ plant built at SIRE's ethanol facility under a long-term agreement; Air Products markets food and beverage grade liquid CO₂ from it. Sized at 400 tons per day in the announcement. | Announced December 2013, production expected early 2014 | PR Newswire, Air Products and SIRE Sign Liquid CO₂ Agreement |
| Linde at the Sunoco ethanol plant | Ethanol fermentation | Fulton, NY | Producer | 600 ton per day CO₂ plant capturing fermentation CO₂ that would otherwise be vented, for food, beverage, and chemical manufacturing customers across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New England. | Started up August 2010 | Oswego County Today, Linde Starts up New York Carbon Dioxide Plant |
| Airgas (Air Liquide) at Pacific Ethanol | Ethanol fermentation | Stockton, CA | Producer | Airgas facility adjacent to the Stockton biorefinery converts ethanol fermentation CO₂ into roughly 500 tonnes per day of liquid CO₂ and up to 250 tonnes per day of dry ice for food and agricultural transport, life science, and industrial uses. | Operating as of the 2019 report | Biofuels International, Pacific Ethanol's waste CO₂ converted at Airgas facility |
| Messer at the Aemetis ethanol plant | Ethanol fermentation | Keyes, CA | Producer | 450 ton per day CO₂ plant fed by pipeline from the Aemetis ethanol plant, for carbonated beverages, food freezing and chilling, and electronics manufacturing in northern California. | Announced March 2019, completion slated for Q4 2019 | Messer, New Carbon Dioxide Plant in Keyes, California |
| Reliant Holdings at Front Range Energy | Ethanol fermentation | Windsor, CO | Producer | Captures and liquefies fermentation CO₂ from the Front Range Energy corn ethanol plant, projected at 300 tons per day, for soft drink carbonation, dry ice, and enhanced oil recovery. The first liquid CO₂ plant linked to a fuel ethanol plant in Colorado. | Opened June 2007 | Carbon Capture Journal, Reliant Holdings opens Colorado CO₂ recovery plant |
| Continental Carbonic Products (Matheson) at The Andersons Marathon Ethanol | Ethanol fermentation | Greenville, OH (also sources CO₂ from an ethanol plant in Albion, MI) | Producer | Liquid CO₂ and dry ice plant fed by the Greenville ethanol plant, sized at 340 tons of CO₂ products per day at full production. The source describes dry ice and liquefied CO₂; it does not state a beverage grade claim. | Announced October 2010 | PR Newswire, Dry Ice to be Manufactured from Ethanol Plant CO₂ |
| Global NRG Renewables (with HoSt and Bright Renewables) | Biogas / RNG | Louisville, KY | Project host | Distillery waste-to-RNG project converting 105 million gallons per year of stillage into RNG plus food grade liquid bio-CO₂. Bright Renewables supplies the biogas upgrader (1,400 SCFM) and CO₂ liquefaction (600 SCFM). | In development, technology supply announced August 2024 | Bright Renewables, Global NRG Renewables distillery waste-to-RNG project in Kentucky |
| CarbonQuest, food and beverage customer | Point-source capture | Washington state | Producer and technology vendor | Distributed capture system at a beverage facility captures site emissions, liquefies the CO₂ on site, purifies it to the ISBT beverage grade standard, and returns it to the facility's own production lines. Projected at about 22,000 metric tons captured over 15 years. | First food and beverage installation announced June 2025 | Carbon Herald, CarbonQuest Brings On-Site CO₂ Capture To Food And Beverage Industry |
| Aircapture with Almanac Beer Co. | Direct air capture | Alameda, CA (brewery); Berkeley, CA (Aircapture) | Producer and technology vendor | Modular on-site direct air capture unit supplies beverage grade liquid CO₂ at a stated 99.999% purity directly into the brewing process. Launched as Flow, Clean Air Edition, the first commercial beer carbonated with CO₂ captured from the atmosphere. | Commercial launch March 2026 | PR Newswire, Aircapture and Almanac Beer Co. launch beer carbonated with direct air capture CO₂ |
| Real Ale Brewing Company (Earthly Labs CiCi) | Brewery fermentation | Blanco, TX | Project host | Installed Chart Industries' Earthly Labs CiCi small-scale capture at its brewery, recovering fermentation CO₂ for reuse; described as one of the first large-scale craft breweries in Texas to do so. | Installed | Chart Industries, Earthly Labs |
| Maine Beer Company (Earthly Labs CiCi) | Brewery fermentation | Maine | Project host | Captures waste CO₂ from fermentation, purifies it, and reuses it for carbonation, tank purging, and packaging, among the first craft breweries in Maine to install the system. | Installed, announced November 2022 | Carbon Capture Technology Expo, Maine Beer Company installs Earthly Labs CO₂ capture |
| Cardinal Glass Industries (with K2-CO2) | Industrial flue gas | Winlock, WA | Project host | First carbon capture installation at a float glass plant, expected to capture about 130,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year from furnace process streams. Cardinal says it is exploring future markets for the captured CO₂; no buyer or grade is stated. | Purchase orders issued, operations planned for Q1 2029 | Cardinal Glass Industries press release |
The companies that build the recovery, purification, and liquefaction equipment. A vendor sells the plant; it does not sell the CO₂. Two of them, CarbonQuest and Aircapture, also operate their own installations and appear in both tables.
| Vendor | Base | Equipment scope | Grade claim on the source | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pentair (CO₂ Recovery for biogas upgrading) | Global; biogas and CO₂ business with US presence | Bolt-on recovery that takes the CO₂-rich off-gas from a biogas upgrader, compresses it, strips trace impurities and moisture, and liquefies it to on-site storage. | States the renewable CO₂ can be used as a food and beverage ingredient (food grade CO₂) and that product meets market specifications. | Pentair Biogas, CO₂ Recovery System |
| GEA (CO₂ Recovery System) | Global; brewery systems | Recovers fermentation CO₂ in breweries through scrubbing, compression, liquefaction, and a stripper that takes oxygen below 5 ppm, for reuse in the brewery or sale to the food and beverage industry. | States 99.998% food grade purity. | GEA, CO₂ Recovery System |
| Atlas Copco (brewery CO₂ recovery) | Global; US site at atlascopco.com/en-us | Compression for recovering fermentation CO₂ in breweries, with systems offered from about 500,000 hectoliters of annual production; states about 4 kg of CO₂ is produced per hectoliter against 3 kg needed for carbonation. | No purity figure stated on the page; recovered CO₂ is described as usable for beverage carbonation. | Atlas Copco USA, CO₂ recovery from fermentation in breweries |
| Bright Renewables North America | Vancouver, WA | Biogas upgrading systems paired with CO₂ liquefaction, plus post-combustion carbon capture; supplying the Louisville, KY distillery waste-to-RNG project. | States food grade liquid bio-CO₂ from its liquefaction technology. | Bright Renewables North America |
| HoSt North America | Vancouver, WA | CO₂ recovery and liquefaction downstream of biogas upgrading or carbon capture, alongside digester and upgrading supply. | States food grade bio-CO₂ at purity above 99.99% for horticulture, food, and refrigeration uses. | HoSt, CO₂ Recovery and Liquefaction |
| Earthly Labs (Chart Industries) | United States; acquired by Chart in 2021 | CiCi modular small-scale capture platform for craft brewing, the wider beverage market, dry ice production, fuel cells, and direct air capture; installations include Real Ale, Alchemist, Roadhouse, and Trefethen Family Vineyards. | Chart's page describes capture and recycling of fermentation CO₂ for reuse; purity is not stated on the page. | Chart Industries, Earthly Labs |
| TOMCO2 Systems | Loganville, GA | Turnkey CO₂ recovery and liquefaction plants from 20 to 600 tons per day for fermentation, ammonia, hydrogen, and natural source streams, plus dry ice vapor recovery. | Page describes recovery and purification of raw byproduct gas; no beverage grade figure stated. | TOMCO Systems, Carbon Capture and Dry Ice Recovery |
| Air Liquide Engineering & Technologies (CO₂ liquefaction units) | Global; standalone downstream package | Liquefaction units that recover and purify the raw CO₂ stream from anaerobic digestion, fermentation, or biomass combustion, designed to connect to any upstream biogas treatment technology. | States biogenic CO₂ is recovered into a food grade liquid commodity. | Air Liquide Engineering & Technologies, CO₂ liquefaction units |
| CarbonQuest | United States; first food and beverage site in Washington state | Distributed point-source capture with on-site liquefaction, sized for space-constrained facilities, returning CO₂ to the host's own production. | States purification to the ISBT beverage grade standard. | Carbon Herald, CarbonQuest Brings On-Site CO₂ Capture To Food And Beverage Industry |
| Aircapture | Berkeley, CA; founded 2019 | Modular on-site direct air capture units integrated with a customer's existing process, first commercial beverage deployment at Almanac Beer Co. | States beverage grade liquid CO₂ at 99.999% purity. | PR Newswire, Aircapture and Almanac Beer Co. launch |
The source type tells you what the supply depends on. Ethanol fermentation CO₂ is biogenic and clean, and it is the largest slice of US merchant supply, but the plant runs for the fuel market and idles on margins and seasonal maintenance. Biogas and RNG CO₂ is separated at the upgrader whether or not anyone captures it, so it runs year-round and is where most new biogenic capacity is being built. Brewery fermentation recovery serves the brewery that installs it and rarely produces a surplus for sale. Point-source and direct air capture put the plant inside the beverage facility, which removes the haul but bounds the volume to what the site emits or the unit can pull from air.
The grade claim column is deliberately literal. Beverage grade means the ISBT specification, 99.9% minimum purity with limits on more than 20 trace contaminants, verified by a certificate of analysis. Where a source says food grade, 99.99%, or nothing at all, the row says exactly that. The source does not decide the grade; the certificate does. For what qualifying a second supplier involves, see how to evaluate a beverage grade CO₂ supplier.
In the US the biogas-to-beverage-grade path is young. CleanCycleCarbon builds and runs cryogenic purification at biogenic sources and entered continuous commercial beverage grade production in December 2024. Global NRG Renewables is developing a Louisville, KY distillery waste-to-RNG plant with food grade bio-CO₂ liquefaction supplied by Bright Renewables. Equipment for the same job comes from Pentair, HoSt, Bright Renewables, and Air Liquide.
Ethanol is the established route: POET markets its own bioCO₂, and Air Products (Council Bluffs, IA), Linde (Fulton, NY), Airgas (Stockton, CA), Messer (Keyes, CA), and Reliant Holdings (Windsor, CO) run liquefaction plants at ethanol sites. We found no public US example of landfill gas CO₂ certified for beverage use; landfill CO₂ is separated during RNG upgrading and vented. That is the gap CleanCycleCarbon's process is designed to close.
Three groups. Independent biogenic capture operators such as CleanCycleCarbon purify CO₂ from biogas and other biogenic streams to beverage grade. Point-source and direct air capture vendors, CarbonQuest and Aircapture among them, install capture at the beverage plant itself. Ethanol fermentation CO₂ from POET and the gas majors is biogenic too, though it depends on fuel ethanol economics. Ammonia and natural well CO₂ are the fossil sources these replace.
Hosts on this page include Front Range Energy (Windsor, CO), Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (Council Bluffs, IA), Aemetis (Keyes, CA), Pacific Ethanol (Stockton, CA), and The Andersons Marathon Ethanol (Greenville, OH), each with a gas company's liquefaction plant on site. Breweries such as Real Ale and Maine Beer Company host small-scale recovery units, and Cardinal Glass plans flue gas capture at Winlock, WA. CleanCycleCarbon hosts its own plant at industrial sites with no capital required from the host.
From a source that does not move with the shortage. Ammonia turnarounds and ethanol idling drive most US shortages, so the producers on this page whose CO₂ comes from biogas, on-site capture, or direct air capture are the ones a bottler should qualify before the next one. Qualifying a second supplier means reviewing its certificate of analysis before the shortage, not during it, and the US CO₂ Supply Watch shows which sources are currently disrupted.
A bottling plant does not generate its own CO₂, so its options are a second merchant contract drawing from a different upstream source, an offtake agreement with an independent biogenic producer within trucking range, or on-site capture of its own boiler emissions of the kind CarbonQuest installs. Each producer on this page is listed with its source type so a buyer can see which ones share the ammonia and ethanol exposure of their current supplier.
Biogenic CO₂ is reported outside the GHG Protocol scopes, so a bottler that moves from ammonia-sourced CO₂ to biogas, fermentation, or direct air capture CO₂ changes its Scope 3 accounting as well as its supply risk. The sourcing question is whether the biogenic producer can certify to the ISBT beverage grade specification, 99.9% minimum purity with limits on more than 20 trace contaminants. The table marks which sources state a grade claim.
Related pages: US CO₂ Supply Watch for current disruptions, alternatives to merchant CO₂ for the options side by side, and CO₂ supply for what to do during a shortage.
Every row was read from the public page linked beside it on the review date shown. Company websites, press releases, and trade press were accepted; market research summaries and directories were not. Capacities, dates, and grade claims are copied from the source, not estimated. Where a source was a press release announcing a plant, the status column says announced, with the date, rather than assuming the plant runs today. Ammonia-sourced and natural well CO₂ are excluded because they are not biogenic or captured.
Gaps we could not close: no public US example of landfill gas CO₂ certified for beverage use, and no dairy digester in the US with a published beverage grade CO₂ offtake. If you have a public source for either, or a correction to any row, send it through the contact page with the link.
CleanCycleCarbon is an independent capture operator producing to the ISBT beverage grade specification. Specifications and documentation are on the supplier page.