{"id":156680,"date":"2025-01-22T07:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T06:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=156680"},"modified":"2025-01-16T15:37:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T14:37:45","slug":"enhancing-biomass-project-economics-with-co2-market-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/enhancing-biomass-project-economics-with-co2-market-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhancing Biomass Project Economics with CO2 Market Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The U.S. merchant CO2 industry represents well over 20 million metric tons of consumption among a wide range of applications far beyond the obvious such as beverage carbonation, firefighting and chilling with dry ice. In fact, the lion\u2019s share of usage has been dedicated to cryogenic freezing, chilling and gas flush applications in food processing, primarily for most forms of meat and vegetable-based perishables. Next in large market demand beyond food processing is usage in dry ice pressing and chilling, then beverage carbonation and an ever-growing variety of industrial uses, many of which are green in nature. This demand is what is typically found in developed world markets. In developing countries, the majority of CO2 is used for beverage carbonation, cylinder gas usage and a nascent demand in food applications. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"CO2
CO2 plants can be fitted into small spaces, such as in this case near an ethanol plant. \u00a9 Advanced Cryogenics<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The CO2 industry would benefit very well from biomass sources in many markets, and this need is stronger than ever due to existing and potential loss of the usual types of supply. One particular concern today is the potential loss of CO2 byproduct availability from the ethanol industry, which represents over 40% of all raw gas supplies to the merchant markets. The uncertainty of long-term supplies from the ethanol industry may become real, should the current CO2 pipeline developments by Summit Carbon Solutions, among others, come to fruition. So much of the large CO2 byproduct from industry\u2014including anhydrous ammonia, among others\u2014could well be sequestered geologically, which could leave a huge hole in the CO2 supply network. Despite the positive arguments surrounding sequestering CO2 via the pipeline network into geological formations, there remain very strong objections by landowners, who say \u201cnot on my land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to current CO2 source types, some 45% of CO2 supplies in the United States are derived from fermentation, approximately 20% from anhydrous ammonia, 18% from natural geological formations, and another 20% from hydrogen reformers found in oil refineries. To follow, a list of miscellaneous source types includes syngas and ethylene oxide production. Renewable sources, including biomass, are the logical way to strengthen the supply chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a very few large multinational CO2 refiners or suppliers to be found domestically and internationally, due to very large mergers and acquisitions. Typical CO2 customers have been facing significant price increases from such players, and the end result represents opportunities for new direct or indirect supplies into the markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Markets<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As aforementioned, the food industry is the major CO2 demand center in developed economies, with applications from gaseous preservation to chilling, as well as freezing a wide variety of meats and other perishables. As to cryogenic freezing with CO2, the end result is a food product that contains more moisture (water), and the process results in the formation of smaller and duller ice crystals within the cells, thus less rupturing of the cell walls. This results in a better appearance and lower moisture loss for food products, as well as more weight retained, ultimately enabling their sale at a greater return. Coincidentally, many biomass projects could fit well into the geographies where significant food processing operations are found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a national level, beverage carbonation is found virtually everywhere, as is dry ice usage. Industrial applications are vast and growing in diversity. Legacy uses for CO2 outside of what is consumed in food and beverage include the steel, foundry and welding industries. Such legacy industries also include the manufacture of rubber and plastic products, use in oil and gas fracturing, and pH adjustment as a weak (carbonic) acid in water systems.  More recent applications, or at least expansion of a nascent use, include closed greenhouse photosynthesis enhancement. This has expanded into expensive crops such as cannabis and supercritical extraction of cannabidiol (CBD) oil. As for the latter, CO2 is the gold standard in this application versus the use of hydrocarbons (propane and hexane) for those customers seeking purity. Supercritical extraction often uses pressures from 1,500 to 2,000 pound-force per square inch (psig) to extract essential oils, and now CBD oils. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries use the product as a feedstock chemical, refrigerant and for extraction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CO2 applications are growing in agricultural markets, being used to reduce the pH of the soil (the alternative is sulfuric acid, a less-safe alternative). For water and effluent treatment, CO2 is an excellent weak acid for pH reduction in municipal potable and wastewater, and where alkaline effluents are found, such as at paper mills. Using CO2 to strengthen concrete via enhancing calcium carbonate formation in pre-cast and poured concrete is gaining traction, with the added advantage of sequestration of this otherwise greenhouse gas. Other applications include replacing unwanted chemicals with CO2 as a safe and pure form of grain fumigation, and CO2 blast cleaning, using the one-fourth-inch pellets under pressure up to 1,200 psig to safely clean virtually any surface. This has historically been used where solvents, sand and other abrasive materials are not desired, thus leaving no cleanup of the cleaning agents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many technologies underway and being scaled up that aim to use CO2 for replacement of hydrocarbons in the development of bioplastics and advanced building materials, for example. The industry is also working on many new developments in advanced fuels and chemicals, where CO2 is a feedstock. There are so many technologies being developed in labs today that replace hydrocarbons in our overheated world and will eventually use this greenhouse gas as a building block for the next generation of energy, chemicals and fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementation <\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In regard to implementation, it is necessary to evaluate and understand the opportunities for CO2 applications within given markets. Oftentimes, considering the size of biomass projects, the CO2 product could be readily sold to a local market for a significant price versus selling wholesale to the gas companies. Many markets are hungry for new and direct suppliers, and opportunities to stay competitive and in business with reasonable local suppliers and prices. When evaluating selling into the markets, all the tools are available for direct supply, including the CO2 liquefaction and purification plants, storage vessels and other hardware used in the CO2 industry, as well as common carrier transportation capabilities for delivering the product. All of this is available now on the open markets, and experts are available to support the biomass industry. Opportunities to make money from CO2 in the biomass sector are stronger than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitalizing on tax credits in 45Q and the Inflation Reduction Act could be another possibility for specific biomass projects. This is another way to monetize CO2, dependent on specific project characteristics. Such sequestration can involve mechanisms other than sending via pipeline to outlying destinations or pumping CO2 into geological formations, such as supplying a feedstock for next-generation chemical and fuels ventures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong> 
Owners and developers of biomass projects that yield CO2 should examine all the options, including the merchant markets and their values and destinations, direct market opportunities and the wholesale sector. It should always be considered that the wholesale sector will pay only a small fraction of what is available with direct supply to the merchant markets. Opportunities exist in the food, beverage and very diverse industrial sector, and depending on the capacity of the biomass CO2 source, it could take a few direct customers to satisfy a very nice return to the project. Other modes include  the wholesale merchant market or tax-subsidized sequestration possibilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, making money from CO2 in the biomass sector is a significant opportunity to evaluate, potentially allowing developers and operators to cash out economically and environmentally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. merchant CO2 industry represents well over 20 million metric tons of consumption among a wide range of applications far beyond the obvious such as beverage carbonation, firefighting and chilling with dry ice. In fact, the lion\u2019s share of usage has been dedicated to cryogenic freezing, chilling and gas flush applications in food processing, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":156720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"There are many technologies underway and being scaled up that aim to use CO2 for replacement of hydrocarbons in the development of bioplastics and advanced building materials","footnotes":""},"categories":[5571],"tags":[5842,10744,10416,16171,12450,10743],"supplier":[7622],"class_list":["post-156680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-co2-based","tag-biomass","tag-carboncapture","tag-circulareconomy","tag-fermentation","tag-syngas","tag-useco2","supplier-advanced-cryogenics-ltd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156680"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=156680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}