Iwatani is going to construct a plant to produce liquid carbon dioxide derived from bioethanol in Thailand having an output capacity of 100 tons per day for operation planned to start in January 2027.  

  In Thailand like in Japan there exists a chronical shortage of liquid carbon dioxide. It is attributed to the current aging of plants and the decreasing production of oil refineries as the supplying source under the influence of decarbonization trend. Development of a new source of carbon dioxide has been seriously explored locally.  

  The new plant planned this time uses as raw material a bi-product gas out of the production process of biomethanol which is derived from sugarcane. The carbon dioxide which is a bi-product from bioethanol has a feature to control CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere. Therefore, it can be said to be a green carbon dioxide which may be able to contribute to decarbonization. 

  Iwatani took the plunge for investment foreseeing to supply such highly environment-friendly CO₂ to Thailand and also export it to the neighbor Southeast Asian countries as well as Japan.

　

  To construct the plant Iwatani applied the project to JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) with a theme of “Green CO₂Production Plan Derived from Bioethanol” and half of the investment amounting to 2.2 billion yen was subsidized. 

  The new plant is planned to be built in Nakhon Sawan Province of northern Thailand located at 200km from Bangkok. The crude gas will be supplied to Iwatani from the bioethanol plant operated by the PTT Group which is the energy major of Thailand. Iwatani will purify and liquefy to make LCO₂ for sale from itself and Bangkok Industrial Gas of Thai gas company. 

  According to Iwatani, the tight supply of carbon dioxide is a prevailing issue not only in Thailand but also in Indonesia. As the plant produces green carbon dioxide which is not related to any increase in the emission of CO₂, Iwatani wishes to provide the adjacent Southeast Asian countries and Japan with a stable supply and a new environmental value of the carbon dioxide.