Refiner's Industrial Scale Facility Uses CO2 in Stack Gas to Enhance Crop Production

California's San Joaquin Valley is one of the nation's largest agriculture producing regions. As such at least one small oil refinery is uniquely located here and is surrounded by hundreds of acres of almond orchards and grape vineyards. This paper presents the science, patent pending gas processing technology, and other data supporting the use of this refinery's clean CO2 rich flue gas in neat, conditioned form to enable "crop carbon enrichment". With this technology, the science of crop carbon enrichment practiced worldwide in greenhouses and promoted for decades by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and The Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), is now commercially viable in an open air orchard (meaning without a greenhouse), making the conditioned flue gas a valuable commodity. The primary benefits are an increase in crop yield of up to 100% and an increase in efficiency of crop water utilization up to 30%, together resulting in nearly doubling the value of an orchard. Secondary benefits include a reduced carbon footprint for the refinery through the biosequestration of CO2 that is captured in the harvest yield and increased biomass of the plant root, trunk and leaves. Importantly, the use of crop carbon enrichment in this case shows significant value toward achieving California's goals for water conservation in the agricultural sector and the overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The project is funded by a grant from the California Air Resources Board's (CARB's) California Climate Investment (CCI) Program as sponsored and awarded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA's) Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI), State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP).