The US carbon dioxide (CO2) merchant market is a key product of the industrial gas business, representing about $1.5bn in sales per year. The CO2 merchant market is served by a complex supply chain.
Some companies within the industry are fully integrated in the CO2 supply chain as they produce the crude, purify it to liquid, and distribute to distributors and end-users. There are some companies that are strictly CO2 distributors.
As a product, CO2 is delivered in several forms including as crude, gaseous, compressed liquid, and solid (ice), and is transferred via pipeline, bulk and micro-bulk trucks, cylinders, and as dry ice. There are many different sources of CO2, but it is primarily sourced from ethanol (fermentation), natural CO2 wells, ammonia, and hydrogen (H2). It can also be captured from the gas streams emitted by power plants. There are plenty of untapped sources in the Midwest (ethanol) and South (ammonia) that are not captured due to regional supply demand balances, and the relatively high cost of capital for new plants.
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