Most people think of CO₂ in the context of beverages and dry ice. But one of the fastest growing demand segments for commercial CO₂ is agriculture, specifically controlled environment agriculture and greenhouse operations.
Why Plants Need More CO₂
Ambient atmospheric CO₂ is approximately 420 ppm. Most commercially grown greenhouse crops perform optimally at 800 to 1200 ppm. Supplementing CO₂ in enclosed growing environments can increase yields by 20 to 30 percent while improving crop quality and reducing growing time.
This is not new science. Greenhouse CO₂ enrichment has been practiced for decades in the Netherlands and other European markets where controlled environment agriculture is mature. The U.S. market is now catching up, driven by the rapid expansion of indoor farming, vertical agriculture, and large scale greenhouse operations.
The Supply Challenge
Agricultural CO₂ users face the same supply chain challenges as beverage and food buyers. When CO₂ supply tightens, greenhouse operators are often the first to get cut because their volumes are smaller and their contracts are less established than major beverage companies. During the 2022 shortage, multiple greenhouse operations reported being unable to source CO₂ at any price.
This is a problem that grows as the market grows. The Controlled Environment Agriculture industry is projected to expand significantly over the next decade. Every new greenhouse operation needs CO₂. The supply has to come from somewhere.
Biogenic CO₂ for Agriculture
There is a natural alignment between biogenic CO₂ from RNG upgraders and agricultural applications. Many RNG facilities are located in agricultural regions, near the dairy farms and food waste digesters that produce biogas. Greenhouse operations in those same regions need CO₂. The logistics are short. The source is renewable. The product is available year round.
Agricultural grade CO₂ does not need to meet beverage grade purity, which means that even CO₂ streams that require additional polishing for beverage applications can serve the agricultural market. This creates flexibility in how a capture facility allocates its product across different market segments.
The Opportunity
At CleanCycleCarbon, we produce beverage grade CO₂ as our primary product. But we recognize that agricultural applications represent a growing and underserved segment of the market. As we expand our network of distributed capture facilities, serving nearby greenhouse operations with reliable, regionally produced CO₂ is a natural extension of what we do.
The market for agricultural CO₂ is growing. The supply is not keeping up. That gap is an opportunity for distributed producers who can deliver product locally without depending on long distance transportation from centralized plants.
