That’s the opinion of Josh Pringle, Vice President of Business Development and Operations at CO2 Meter, Inc.
Pringle was speaking exclusively on jasooworld TV, through past weeks Lands of Opportunity webinar Sponsored by DOD Technologies Focused on the current and future gas market in the United States.
The webinar explored the industrial gases industry in the United States as the land of original, self-designed opportunities and a market today reloaded with many market drivers and opportunities.
Among those opportunities is the growing carbon dioxide business, and Pringle stated that he believes the market for carbon dioxide and other gases in the United States “remains enormous.” He added that while there is consolidation at the main player level, there are huge opportunities at the independent distributor level across all gases and equipment.
The CO2 meter designs and manufactures gas detection, monitoring and analysis devices, and Pringle, internationally recognized as an expert in CO2 and CO gas monitoring, explained how 10 years ago the CO2 meter made about 50 or 60 different devices, but today This number has increased to more than 350 – this is technological progress and opportunities across the industry.
“That’s because we’re still getting customers close to us and they want us to make devices for new apps,” he said.
Among those new applications in recent years is the cannabis trade, where the relaxation of recreational cannabis regulations has been a major driver of growth in carbon dioxide use in various countries.
The recreational market in Canada is now large and well established, but the United States is the largest market in the world, with many states allowing the use of medicinal cannabis for some treatments. If some states legalize recreational use, it will increase the potential of the US market.
Read more: Cannabis – is it still a high market in CO2 use?
Pringle has no doubt that this represents one of the biggest opportunities for the US CO2 industry in the coming years. “I think the biggest expansion that people have seen in the last few years, is definitely the growth in indoor farming and the cannabis market. It is undoubtedly moving from the East Coast to the West Coast, and a lot of that driver is politically dependent on the economy,” he emphasized during the seminar’s Q&A session Online.
“For example, I think Colorado in 2019 took in about $535 million in additional taxes based on the cannabis market, and I think other states are looking at that now and saying, with tight budgets as you get out of the pandemic, we’re going to look at these new revenue sources on the It’s an opportunity.”
By far the largest consumer of carbon dioxide associated with cannabis is its application to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in commercial greenhouses where the crop is grown.
High levels of carbon dioxide enhance photosynthesis and speed up plant growth. In greenhouses, the rate of plant growth can be improved in proportion to the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations, up to approximately 800 parts per million (ppm). This is about twice the normal concentration of carbon dioxide in the natural surrounding air.
Higher carbon dioxide concentrations also increase growth rates, but each incremental increase in carbon dioxide levels above about 800 ppm has diminishing returns. Despite this, many farmers dose the CO2 to maintain the concentration between 1,000 and 1,200 ppm to take full advantage of the CO2 addition potential.
“Given primarily ‘clean’ use of CO2 in that market, this is a huge opportunity,” Pringle said.
“It’s not just a huge opportunity for majors, it’s also a huge opportunity for freelancers – and it’s a huge opportunity for those freelancers because they can come and do all that. Nuts and bolts Work too. Don’t just drop into the tank and run; It’s a chance to go in and install, install scatter heads, and talk about monitoring and talk about safety oversight, and really come in and show the client the value of what a local person can bring.”
“That’s still the biggest driver in the CO2 market, and I think it’s going to continue because we’re still seeing East Coast countries expand and legalize (cannabis) in part.”
The Lands of Opportunity, Part 2: Asia and the Pacific
If you enjoyed this week’s educational webinar focused on America’s Land of Opportunity, don’t forget to sign up for Part Two on Friday, exploring the new lands of emerging opportunity in the Asia-Pacific region, only at Gasworld.tv.
