Why Biogenic CO₂ Is Southeast Asia's Most Overlooked Renewable By-Product
Every anaerobic digestion process produces two main gases: methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). The industry calls the mixture raw biogas — roughly 55–65% methane and 35–45% CO₂ by volume. Most AD operators upgrade the methane to pipeline quality and simply vent or flare the CO₂. AWE's facilities are designed to do something different: capture and purify both. In Southeast Asia, that single design decision could prove to be one of the most valuable features of an AD plant.
## Where food-grade CO₂ usually comes from
Most people assume CO₂ is abundant — and in the atmosphere, it is. But food-grade CO₂, the high-purity gas used to carbonate drinks, preserve packaged food, and feed greenhouse crops, comes from a surprisingly narrow and fragile source. The bulk of the world's supply is a by-product of ammonia manufacturing for fertiliser, produced by reforming fossil natural gas through the Haber-Bosch process (RSC; BBC). Bioethanol fermentation is the other major source.
That creates two problems. First, this conventional CO₂ is fossil-derived. Second, and more immediately, its supply is tied to the economics of an entirely different industry. When fertiliser plants close for seasonal maintenance, or when high gas prices make ammonia production uneconomic, the CO₂ supply collapses with it. The consequences have been severe and repeated: in 2021 a single fertiliser producer supplied around 60% of the UK's food-grade CO₂, and its temporary shutdown threatened food production nationwide (C&EN; BBC). New Zealand lost supermarket stock in 2023 when its only food-grade CO₂ facility closed. Industry analysts expect merchant CO₂ supply to tighten further over the coming decade even as demand keeps rising.
## The CO₂ challenge in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia feels this fragility acutely. The region's food and beverage sector — carbonated soft drinks, beer, packaged food and greenhouse horticulture — consumes large and growing volumes of food-grade CO₂ each year. But unlike Europe or North America, the region has limited local production capacity. Much of its food-grade CO₂ is imported, which makes supply chains long, costly, and exposed to exactly the kind of disruption seen elsewhere. For a regional manufacturer, a CO₂ shortage isn't an inconvenience — it can stop a production line.
## How AWE's approach is different
AWE's project model treats CO₂ capture and purification as a standard output, not an optional add-on. Every facility AWE develops is designed to produce certified food-grade biogenic CO₂ from the AD process, alongside renewable biomethane and organic fertiliser. It requires additional processing equipment, but it reflects a deliberate choice to capture the full value of the organic waste AWE processes rather than letting a usable resource escape.
Crucially, the CO₂ AWE's facilities are built to produce is biogenic — it originates from organic matter, not fossil-fuel reforming. For food and beverage buyers with their own sustainability commitments, who are increasingly looking to move away from fossil-derived inputs, biogenic CO₂ is a natural like-for-like replacement.
## Supporting local industries and communities
This is where AWE's model matters most for the regions it works in. Where AWE builds a facility, it has the potential to give nearby food and beverage manufacturers, beverage producers and greenhouse growers something they often can't currently rely on: a local, certified, lower-carbon CO₂ supply. That means shorter and more resilient supply chains, less exposure to import disruption and global freight delays, and a domestic alternative to a product the region currently brings in from elsewhere.
It fits squarely with what AWE is built to do — turn the organic waste of regional food and agricultural industries into useful products, locally. A planned AWE facility wouldn't just process a community's waste; its biogenic CO₂ could help underpin the very local industries that generate that waste in the first place, supporting regional businesses, jobs and supply security at the same time.
Few operators in the region currently treat biogenic CO₂ as a core output. As AWE develops its project pipeline, building CO₂ capture in from the start positions it to help close a real and recurring gap in regional supply.
If you are a food and beverage manufacturer, greenhouse operator or carbonated drinks producer in Southeast Asia interested in a future local source of certified biogenic CO₂, we'd welcome a conversation about AWE's project pipeline and offtake opportunities.