CO₂ is indispensable for many industrial processes. Whether in the food and beverage industry, metalworking, water treatment, or in cooling and cleaning processes—carbon dioxide is an essential operating material. Yet its importance is often underestimated. At the latest when deliveries fail to arrive or prices explode, it becomes clear: CO₂ is anything but readily available.

In recent years, more and more companies have experienced just how fragile the CO₂ supply really is. Delivery bottlenecks, short-notice rationing, and sharp price fluctuations are no longer the exception, but a recurring reality. The reasons run deeper—and they are structural in nature.

Why CO₂ keeps becoming scarce
The core problem is that industrially used CO₂ is not a deliberately produced raw material. In Europe, a significant share of available CO₂ comes from ammonia production; in some markets this share was most recently around 45%. The gas is generated only as a by-product and is available only when the main plant is operating.

For CO₂ customers, this creates a massive dependency on industries whose production logic is completely different. When an ammonia plant is shut down due to maintenance, high energy prices, or regulatory intervention, the CO₂ source disappears with it—often without warning. It is particularly problematic that these shutdowns regularly occur in clusters. Especially in the summer months, when CO₂ demand from the beverage and food industries rises seasonally, many plants go offline at the same time.

In addition, supply is closely tied to the energy market. Rising gas prices in recent years have led many ammonia plants to scale back production temporarily or shut down altogether. As a result, not only did fertilizer production decline, but the available CO₂ supply did as well. For CO₂ customers, this had tangible consequences: within a short period, prices multiplied; in some regions they rose temporarily to several times the long-term average.

A market with a widening gap between supply and demand
What is particularly critical is that this situation is likely to intensify further over time. Forecasts show that the freely available CO₂ supply from traditional by-product sources could decline significantly in the coming years—by up to around 30% within the next decade. At the same time, industrial CO₂ demand continues to grow, with annual increases of about 2%.

This opposing trend creates a structural imbalance: even without additional crises or geopolitical disruptions, supply will increasingly fail to reliably meet demand. For many companies, CO₂ is shifting from a taken-for-granted operating material to a genuine bottleneck factor.

When CO₂ is missing, processes come to a standstill
In day-to-day industrial operations, the effects of CO₂ shortages are most evident wherever carbon dioxide is used directly as a process medium—for example in the food and metal industries. In many applications, CO₂ is an integral part of the process, such as a shielding gas, reaction medium, or for targeted process control. If supply fails, these processes cannot easily be substituted or postponed; instead, they must be throttled back or interrupted.

Areas such as water treatment are also directly affected, as CO₂ is used there specifically for pH control. Downstream, shortages also impact applications that rely on CO₂ as a feedstock, for example in the production of dry ice. This makes it clear: CO₂ is not an auxiliary material that can be replaced at will, but a key factor in the stability of industrial processes.

CO₂ recovery: technology that ensures supply security
Against this backdrop, CO₂ recovery plants are gaining massive importance. From a technical perspective, they capture CO₂ where it is generated anyway—for example in flue gas streams from boilers, furnaces, or process plants. The CO₂ contained is separated, purified, and processed to a quality that allows reuse within the operation.

The decisive advantage lies not only in the technology itself, but in its impact: companies become more independent of external supply chains. Instead of purchasing CO₂ at high cost or hoping for uncertain delivery windows, they have a predictable, continuous source available—directly at their own site.

Circular economy with measurable benefits
CO₂ recovery plants are also a practical lever for an industrial circular economy. Once captured, the CO₂ can be used multiple times—for example for cooling, cleaning, shielding gas, or carbonation. Every tonne of CO₂ that is reused replaces externally sourced gas and simultaneously reduces emissions.

For many companies, this pays off not only environmentally, but also economically. In addition to more stable cost structures, CO₂ balances improve measurably, which is becoming increasingly relevant in the context of ESG reporting and regulatory requirements.

Even for companies that do not use the recovered CO₂ themselves, recovery can be economically viable. If CO₂ is produced as a byproduct of processes, it can be processed and specifically marketed to external buyers. In this way, a previously unused emission becomes an additional source of revenue. At the same time, this form of recovery helps to increase the overall supply of CO₂ and alleviate existing market shortages—a benefit that extends beyond the company’s own operations.

Conclusion: CO₂ shortages can be mitigated technically
CO₂ shortages are not a short-term market issue, but the result of a system based on by-products and dependencies. Companies that continue to rely exclusively on external supply remain exposed to these risks.

CO₂ recovery plants offer a different path. They turn emissions into a resource, stabilize supply, and provide the foundation for a true CO₂ circular economy. Especially in an environment of declining supply volumes and rising demand, this form of self-supply is increasingly becoming a strategic competitive advantage.