News » 07.09.2026 - Greenhouse industry has the potential to solve its own CO₂ issue

In the Netherlands, tomato grower South Valley has begun dosing its tomato plants with CO₂ it captures itself. Alongside its greenhouses in Vierpolders, several containers and modules packed with high-tech equipment now capture CO₂ from the flue gases of the company's combined heat and power (CHP) unit. Value Carbon supplied a modular CO₂ capture system for the project. The company has six to eight new projects planned for the coming year, including several at geothermal energy sites.

Tomato grower Joost van der Voort first became interested in CO₂ from shipping several years ago. Value Maritime, the company from which Value Carbon later emerged, was at the time looking for buyers for CO₂ captured from ships at sea.

The two parties began talking. Joost explained that while he already used CO₂ from his own CHP unit, he still had to buy in liquid CO₂ as well. At the same time, he was frustrated to see significant amounts of CO₂ go to waste at his business every day. Much of the CO₂ from his CHP units couldn't be used directly, since the units ran mainly at night, when growers don't dose CO₂.

CO₂ surplus
Many growers face this kind of CO₂ surplus, says Lars Lamet, Commercial Manager at Value Carbon. Without modern capture technology, however, there's little they can do about it. Growers dose CO₂ in their greenhouses, but the surplus produced by their own CHP units simply goes up the chimney, a costly loss of what is, in effect, a valuable crop fertilizer.

"One grower recently told me, 'You're the first one who can actually put a clear price on a ton of CO₂.' That was a real compliment," Lars says. He notes that CO₂ is an increasingly common topic in the sector, but observes that discussions still tend to focus on the technology itself rather than on the business model behind it for growers.

CO₂ capture at South Valley in Vierpolders

Price per kilogram of tomatoes
Value Carbon develops CO₂ capture technology, but the company also places strong emphasis on building a full supply chain for using that CO₂. "In horticulture, what ultimately matters is production cost per square meter," Lars explains. The Rotterdam-based company draws heavily on its experience in shipping, where captured CO₂ is brought ashore after being collected on board vessels. More than sixty ships are currently equipped to capture CO₂ using the Dutch company's system. "More than half of those ships have CO₂ capture capacity."

Installing an on-site CO₂ capture system alongside a greenhouse represents a substantial investment, but one that more and more companies are considering. That's partly because CO₂ from other sources is becoming scarcer. Driven by government policy, large companies in the Port of Rotterdam are set to store their CO₂ under the North Sea seabed rather than supply it to greenhouses, reducing the volume available to growers. This has become a growing concern in the sector, with many growers citing a potential CO₂ shortage as a key challenge on the road to a fossil-free future. As CO₂ becomes scarcer and more expensive, capturing it on-site becomes an increasingly attractive option for greenhouse growers.

Capture, use and liquefy
At South Valley, Value Carbon's modular system sits next to an 8-hectare tomato greenhouse. The grower produces heat, electricity and CO₂ using a CHP unit, and also draws on geothermal energy. A large share of the CO₂ from the CHP unit can be used directly in the greenhouse in Vierpolders, Lars notes. "Our system can capture roughly 80 percent of the CO₂ produced by the CHP unit."

After making initial contact with the greenhouse sector, Lars and his team held extensive discussions with various stakeholders. A key step was testing the quality of the captured CO₂. This testing took place in 2024 as part of a Kas als Energiebron project, in collaboration with Wageningen University & Research and greenhouse operator The Valley.

The CO₂ captured by Value Carbon proved safe for use, clearing the way for the technology to be scaled up. At The Valley, a system was built from several separate components. Flue gases are piped to a unit that extracts CO₂ using an amine solution; the captured CO₂ is then stored in dedicated tanks.

Liquefying the captured CO₂ is also possible, though this isn't done at the Vierpolders site. Many of the projects planned for 2027 will include a liquefaction unit, allowing captured CO₂ to be transported to other locations and reused elsewhere. "That way, the CO₂ a company produces itself is put to optimal use."

When South Valley wants to use the CO₂ stored in its tanks in Vierpolders, the CO₂-laden amine is sent to a system that separates the two again. This process requires temperatures of around 130 to 140 degrees Celsius. South Valley generates this heat using an electric boiler powered by solar panels; other projects rely on waste heat or heat from a CHP unit instead. Once the CO₂ has been separated from the amine and cooled, it's ready to be released into the greenhouse.

CO₂ as a service
The South Valley project is an important showcase for Value Carbon, demonstrating that its technology can be deployed at scale in greenhouse growing. A series of new projects is planned for 2027. "We'll also be capturing CO₂ at several geothermal energy projects," Lars says. These projects also bring natural gas to the surface, which is burned in a CHP unit. The resulting CO₂ is captured and reused by greenhouse growers.

CHP units at geothermal projects tend to run far more hours than those in greenhouses, where operating hours are declining due to broader energy market developments. To make the business case work, Value Carbon tailors its system to each grower's summer operating profile. "You need a minimum number of CHP operating hours in summer for it to work," Lars explains.

At current CO₂ prices, on-site capture is profitable for growers with roughly 8 hectares of greenhouse area or more. As CO₂ prices rise, capturing it on-site will become attractive for growers with smaller areas as well, provided they have sufficient CO₂ demand.

Value Carbon is positioning its offering as "CO₂ as a service." The company has consulted with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) to identify the greenhouse cases best suited to CO₂ capture. "We now have clarity on the available subsidy volumes, which makes it viable for us to position our system within the greenhouse sector."

Growers who don't want to set up their own CO₂ capture project can still work with Value Carbon's specialists, for instance, by purchasing CO₂ from one of the sources where the company already captures it. Value Carbon has expanded its Rotterdam office team to accelerate the rollout of CO₂ capture across greenhouse horticulture, geothermal energy, biomass and industrial applications.
 

Source: www.floraldaily.com

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