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Growing tomatoes with refinery CO2
Pernis refinery in the Netherlands supplies pure CO2 to local greenhouses, because while too much CO2 in the environment is damaging to the climate it’s very good for growing fruit and vegetables.
Doubling the concentration of CO2 in a greenhouse can increase tomato production by 25%, and in the Netherlands growers run their natural gas heaters in summer expressly to boost CO2 levels. In 2005 the Pernis refinery, spotting the opportunity to turn their CO2 into a useful resource, began capturing the CO2 produced from its hydrogen-making plant for supply to local farmers.
The gas is distributed by a consortium called Organic CO2 Assimilation for Plants. Everyone gains through the solution: the growers save money and energy because it’s cheaper and more efficient to buy Pernis CO2 than to use gas heaters to produce their own; and the refinery cuts its emissions. The total emission reduction is approximately 325,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.
