New project looks to improve farming yield by piping carbon dioxide into orchards

Photo by Skylar Zilka on Unsplash

Many of us learn from a young age that carbon dioxide is a necessary ingredient that plants need to grow big and tall. This knowledge has prompted many innovative studies and research to design new systems that pump carbon dioxide into greenhouses with the purpose of boosting production. However, more recent developments have led to a new innovation; piping carbon dioxide into entire orchards to increase yield.

In the world of farming, efficiency is the king of all metrics

When it comes to farming, the volume of products that you create is generally what will help you get the most profit. Every small percentage of efficiency that you create could lead to a huge increase in your overall profits.

This is why many farmers have already made efficiency-focused switches such as using poly tanks to store, purify, and clean rainwater so that it can be used for watering crops. This can save a huge amount of money on your utility bills since you’ll be less likely to use copious amounts of water for tending to your crops.

However, that’s a rather old yet trusted way to improve the efficiency of your farm. These days, it’s not water that people are looking to save–it’s carbon dioxide.

The $100,000 commercial demonstration

Over in America, there’s roughly a third of an acre off Weedpatch Highway that is currently being used as part of a $100,000 commercial demonstration that is aimed at improving efficiencies by utilizing the basic concepts behind photosynthesis. By piping carbon dioxide straight into orchards with a controlled release, the idea is that the orchard will continue to grow at an accelerated rate while also producing larger products.

This idea is currently being used in greenhouses due to the ease of keeping the CO2 inside of a greenhouse. If the gas can’t escape, then it will eventually find its way into a plant to help it grow. The challenge with an orchard is that there is no container to keep the gas in. This means that while investing in this farming idea sounds great in principle, there are still some difficulties that need to be worked out before it can be used on a large commercial scale.

While the CO2 is currently being produced by burning propane and gasoline, that’s not the long-term solution. Brian Marsh, one of the scientists working on the project, said that the original goal was to take in exhaust from a source of CO2 such as a refinery or oil wellhead. This would require some serious investment and an air permit, and there are also negotiations that need to be carried out before a project like this can be fully brought to life.

But with that said, the scientists working on this project are enthusiastic about their work and they are looking forward to pushing their ideas to become more practical and also affordable for farmers in the future. Innovations to improve crop production are always both welcomed and supported by industries and communities around the world.