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The carbon dioxide business is traditionally thought of as the recovery and
distribution of liquid carbon dioxide, since this is the product most commonly
bought and sold. Liquid carbon dioxide is usually recovered as a gaseous by-product
of industrial operations such as hydrogen production by the steam reforming
of natural gas or the production of ethanol by fermentation. The gaseous carbon
dioxide is liquefied for sale as a merchant product because liquid carbon dioxide
can be transported more economically than gaseous and because many consumers
use carbon dioxide for the physical properties associated with its being a
refrigerated liquid. Liquid carbon dioxide reaches end users through a network
of highway tankers, resupply depots and railcars. As a result, the carbon dioxide
business is highly regional.
Liquid carbon dioxide consumption is likely to grow at an average annual rate
of about 1.6% in the United States, 4.4% in Western Europe and 1.0% in Japan
during the next five years.
China is continuing to emerge as an important player in the global market.
For the past few years, the country’s consumption has been growing at
rates close to 15–20% annually and is expected to continue to grow around
that range in the forecast period. Capacity has almost quadrupled in the past
decade since it opened its doors to Western enterprises. The following graph
shows consumption of carbon dioxide by end use for different regions:
The carbon dioxide industry is concentrated among a few global players (Air
Liquide, Linde Group/BOC and Praxair), although smaller regional players also
participate. In September 2006, Linde AG announced the merger of Linde AG and
The BOC Group plc. The new company will be known as the Linde Group.
Carbon dioxide gas is generated as a product of animal metabolism and is a
vital component of the photosynthetic process; thus, it is of importance in
animal and plant life cycles. Carbon dioxide gas also occurs as a product of
the combustion or oxidation of all types of carbonaceous materials, a product
of any carbonate decomposition and a product of natural fermentation processes.
It occurs underground in some areas as a natural gas, either in highly concentrated
form or with other gases in natural gas/hydrocarbon deposits or in mineral
springs.
Although atmospheric carbon dioxide has been identified as a contributor to
global warming, these issues are relevant primarily to the industries that
generate and release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The companies covered
in this report recover and distribute by-product carbon dioxide or naturally
occurring carbon dioxide but do not produce carbon dioxide.
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