Nordic greenhouse grower to capture CO2 from air outside

Plants need CO2 to grow. Some growers generate CO2 by burning fossil fuels, but why not use the outside air that contains an abundance of CO2 in itself? GreenCap Solutions has developed a way to do just that, capturing CO2 from the air outside and feeding it to plants inside the greenhouse, that way improving plant growth. They have already worked together with various greenhouse growers in Norway, and have now started a partnership with organic grower Nordic Greens. 

GreenCap’s ECS system replaces heating from natural gas with captured CO2 from the greenhouse air and direct air capture of CO2 from the air outside (DAC). In addition to making crop production climate neutral, the positive results from Environmental Control System (ECS) include increased yield, greater resource efficiency, and year-round production. 

“This is our first international ECS project, a key milestone for our company which significantly expands our agtech portfolio. We look forward to working together with Nordic Greens to achieve our shared ambition of building tomorrow’s sustainable and future-proof greenhouse vegetable production,” says CSO Jarle Skjæveland from GreenCap Solutions.

Future-oriented vegetable production
Nordic Greens previously known as Alfred Pedersen & Søn is a Nordic company that produces greenhouse vegetables in both Denmark and Sweden. The ECS system from GreenCap will be implemented at the company’s organic vegetable production center in Odense, Denmark. The agreement covers a two-step implementation plan, a pre-study followed by full installation in 2023.

“We always think environmentally and work hard to be as climate and resource-conscious as possible in all our production. Applying GreenCap’s patented ECS technology will help us further increase crop yields while saving emissions,” says Nordic Greens CEO Mads Pedersen. The ECS and DAC technology will be applied at Nordic Green’s 22.000m2 greenhouse facility for growing organic cucumbers in Odense.

Proven effect on crop yields and climate emissions
“The ECS and DAC technology is a technology that can transform greenhouse production worldwide. I am humble and proud that a leading vegetable producer like Nordic Greens has chosen our technology for their world-class production facilities,” says Jarle Skjæveland from GreenCap. In June 2021, the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), one of Norway’s research institutes, published a report that showed that GreenCap’s patented ECS increases tomato yields more than three-fold and improves their quality, while eliminating the use of fossil fuel for heating and CO2 for growing the crops, essentially making them climate neutral.