Today we are going to dismantle, point by point, why CO2 is a stupid choice for cannabinoid CBD extraction.
- CO2 is a pollutant, and is the main cause of global warming. For a “green” industry like ours to use a material that blatantly harms the environment is hypocrisy at its worst.
- CO2 is highly toxic, and can easily kill the unskilled user. Most extractors have little or no comprehension of the dangers of a leak or mechanical failure. The gas is heavier than air, and will rapidly poison the unlucky people in the same room as a CO2 release.
- Carbon dioxide is in short supply. Remember, CO2 in its solid form is simply Dry Ice. Dry Ice is used to keep things very cold, like the Covid vaccines. Even before the pandemic, CO2 supplies were low. Now, the huge demand for Dry Ice to keep the vaccines cold will consume most of the available industrial carbon dioxide. Would you rather have the scarce and precious CO2 go towards safeguarding our vaccine distribution, or go to waste during cannabinoid extraction? Extractors using carbon dioxide may be priced out of the market as demand for Dry Ice drives up their costs.
- Carbon dioxide extractions are done at high pressure. Like over 50 times normal atmospheric pressure. These extreme conditions require bomb rated equipment, which is very expensive to produce and maintain. Aside from the safety issues of using high pressure gas, the upfront capital needed to contain these extreme conditions is huge. This “investment” in equipment drives the hype about CO2: producers that bought into the fad now have to justify the money spent on obsolete technology.
- Carbon dioxide is not the only raw material needed by CO2 extractors. The crude product obtained from a CO2 extraction must be further purified to remove waxes and organic matter such as chlorophyll. Ethanol is the preferred solvent to upgrade crude extract. This begs the question: since ethanol is needed, why use CO2 at all, when ethanol provides excellent extract at a good price?
Many of these issues have been raised in some of my earlier posts. We are just tired about the CO2 hype. We will continue to bring these issues forward to correct the CO2 misrepresentations.