Greenhouse gases for greenhouses
As an example of innovation helping the environment, The Guardian has reported on a Dutch project in which carbon dioxide produced by a Shell oil refinery is pumped into commercial greenhouses, instead of them burning natural gas.
“Before the project was launched last year the greenhouses, which grow vegetables and flowers, used to generate CO2 by burning natural gas. By tripling the concentration of the gas inside the greenhouse they allow the plants to photosynthesise more quickly. This boosts productivity by up to 25% and cuts growing time, but the CO2 ended up in the atmosphere.
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According to the journal Nature the €100m (£65m) scheme supplies greenhouses with CO2 at between €40 and €70 a tonne - just over half the price of generating the CO2. Once the 100 greenhouses are plumbed in by the end of the year, the distribution network will be delivering up to 130 tonnes an hour.
“Of course, there is a reduction in the use of natural gas at the greenhouse,” Mr Limbeek said. “But under European emissions trading rules it is Shell who benefits because CO2 that would have been emitted by them now goes somewhere else.”
Shell will share some of the profit from selling carbon credits with the greenhouses after 2008, but Mr Limbeek was not prepared to reveal details of the deal.”