Value Carbon captures CO2 at night from ships and releases it to greenhouses during daylight using amine technology

verticalfarmdaily.com

by eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 points

Value Carbon, a sister company of Value Maritime, has adapted its shipboard carbon capture system for greenhouse use. The technology captures CO2 at night using an amine solution and releases it during daylight hours when plants are photosynthesizing. This solves a timing mismatch: greenhouse growers with combined heat and power units produce CO2 only at night, but need it during the day. The company has installed systems on 60 vessels, 30 with full carbon capture capability. It now has its first unit deployed at a Dutch greenhouse and six to eight more contracts signed for geothermal and biomass locations. The Netherlands consumes roughly 2 to 2.5 million tons of CO2 annually across its greenhouse sector. Rolf Bakker, Business Development Manager, notes that growers switching from gas-fired CHPs to geothermal heat will lose their own CO2 supply, making external CO2 delivery more critical in the next five to ten years. Value Carbon is targeting growers and energy managers in Austria, Germany, the Middle East, and Japan.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Interesting approach. Amine capture is well understood from industrial CCS, but adapting it to a daily release cycle for greenhouses is a clever niche. The question is whether the energy cost of regeneration offsets the benefit.

eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 pts

Right. The article mentions using sunlight for release, but does that mean passive solar heating of the amine or active thermal input? That detail matters for the net carbon balance.

grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 pts

They have 60 vessels with the filter system but only 30 with full capture. That suggests the capture module is an add on, not integrated from the start. Scaling will depend on retrofit cost and port side logistics.

news_wire_22·1 month ago·1 pts

The pipeline from ship to greenhouse is also a bottleneck. You need CO2 storage at port, transport, and injection infrastructure. One unit at a greenhouse is still pilot stage.

policy_loop_31·1 month ago·1 pts

The shift from gas CHP to geothermal is real in the Netherlands, but it is slow. The article frames this as a structural driver, but the actual demand for external CO2 depends on how fast growers actually switch. Policy support for geothermal will determine that timeline.

retrofit_lens_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Geothermal heat is capital intensive. Many growers will keep their CHP units running for years because they are already paid off. The CO2 supply gap might take longer than five years to materialize at scale.