CO2 shortage: what consequences for the cold sector?
In recent months a worrying shortage of CO2 has been recorded in Europe and although only certain industrial sectors are currently affected, it is starting to have some significant consequences in the food sector.
This sudden shortage of carbon dioxide is already a serious problem which needs to be dealt with immediately, considering that if it spreads to other sectors such as the pharmaceuticals and air conditioning, it could even halt production in the long term.
Food sector crisis
One of the most widespread uses of carbon dioxide is in the food sector, where it is used as a raw material by manufacturers of carbonated drinks. Recently, the shortage of CO2 has been so damaging to such companies that in some cases they have had to close their factories.
Although many people attribute the cause of this problem to the difficult geo-political situation currently facing the world and the sudden price increases of gas and other fuels, experts agree that such factors cannot be held entirely responsible for the shortage of this raw material.
To clarify the situation, we should first focus on how the food and drink sector is organised. Considering that the current year’s production was planned at the end of last year and orders were processed some time before that, production stoppages by some companies can definitely not be blamed solely on the current gas shortage.
The most logical explanation for the situation lies in the fact that consumption forecasts were inaccurate; actual consumption was considerably higher than the stocks of food and drink originally ordered, due in large part to an unusually hot and dry summer.
It is also important to consider that carbon dioxide is a by-product of other production processes such as fertiliser manufacture, but (as these substances are used in agriculture in summer and autumn), manufacturers usually halt production from April to June to carry out maintenance of machinery, so production of CO2 is also halted.
This inevitably implies:
- Accessing the gas required for the production of new fizzy drinks is not possible:
- Producers are unable to fulfil the extra orders, (as a result in some areas of Europe, they are trying to resume production sooner, to be better able to meet increased demand).
How much does the CO2 shortage influence the cold sector
Many businesses operating in the cold sector have already expressed grave concern about the CO2 shortage and the resulting stoppages that food sector operators may encounter.
Their main fear lies in the fact that this scarcity of resources may soon damage the air conditioning sector as a whole, especially with regard to equipment using R744.
That particular refrigerant in fact, is obtained using the same processes used to synthesise CO2 for the food sector and the only difference is that the latter is purer.
In order to clarify the situation, a survey was commissioned to ask the HVAC companies if they have in any way been affected by the gas shortage.
Their responses have been encouraging, with almost all respondents declaring that they have not had any trouble sourcing the raw material necessary for their usual production processes.
This is a fairly obvious conclusion, as in general, R744 absorbs a mere 0.4 – 0.5% of the total carbon dioxide produced; such a small amount as to be negligible.
The Italian Biogas Consortium has put the cold sector’s mind at rest with some special initiatives, such as helping agricultural firms (specialised in the production of biogas and bio-methane) to collect surplus CO2 (generated during production processes) and become suppliers.
