TORONTO, ON – August 26, 2020 – Toronto based CO2 GRO Inc. (“GROW”) (TSXV: GROW, OTCQB: BLONF, Frankfurt: 4021) is pleased to announce that it will install a CO2 Delivery Solutions™ VCO2 system for a Commercial Feasibility at one of Hidroexpo S.A. de C.V.’s (“Hidroexpo”) 1-hectare peppers greenhouse in El Salvador. Hidroexpo operates over thirty 1-hectare greenhouses all growing peppers for export to the U.S. primarily through large food distributors such as Lipman Family Farms (“Lipman”) who facilitated the introduction.
The Commercial Feasibility will begin in September 2020 for one complete grow season ending in April 2021. Objectives are to assess faster time to harvest, increased pepper yield per harvest, Perimeter Protection™ against the spread of microbial pathogens and CO2 gas usage.
Lipman Family Farms owns and operates greenhouses throughout the U.S. and Canada growing a variety of produce, as well as sourcing produce from contract growers in El Salvador (Hidroexpo) and Mexico. Most greenhouses in Central and South America do not practice atmospheric enrichment of CO2 by gassing as they are open venting designs and CO2 costs are generally more expensive than in North America. GROW’s CO2 Delivery Solutions™ enables these greenhouses to supplement their plants with CO2 by misting an aqueous CO2 solution directly on to the plants, regardless of the greenhouse design. Aqueous CO2 misting significantly reduces CO2 usage and costs by over 90% compared to gassing, making CO2 Delivery Solutions™ the only practical and economical method to provide CO2 to plants for greenhouses in those regions.
Rodrigo Martinez, General Manager of Hidroexpo commented, “As an innovative company, we have been searching for solutions to increase the CO2 for our plant growth. In a hot climate it is very difficult to maintain air flow while adding more CO2 in the greenhouse atmosphere. We are very excited to test the CO2 Delivery Solutions™ system as it will help us increase our production while keeping our costs low.”
According to John Archibald, GROW’s CEO, “We are thankful to Lipman for the introduction to Hidroexpo. This is a large commercial vegetable grower in Central America servicing both North American and South American food distributors. Success of our largest Commercial Feasibility to date will enhance the adoption of our CO2 Delivery Solutions™ systems by providing visibility of our technology’s potential to major food distributors that operate North, Central and South American greenhouses.”
Visit www.co2delivery.ca for more information on CO2 Delivery Solutions™ or watch this video. To see a CO2 Delivery Solutions™ VCO2 system installation, watch this video.
For more information on Hidroexpo please visit hidroexpo.com. For more information on Lipman Family Farms please visit lipmanfamilyfarms.com.
About CO2 GRO Inc.
GROW’s target markets are focused on the 50 billion square feet of global greenhouse and covered cultivation space (USDA). Atmospheric enrichment of CO2 by gassing has been practiced in indoor and expensive sealed greenhouses for decades resulting in enhance crop yields of up to 30%. However, 85% of the world’s greenhouses are unsealed and have open-venting designs for heat ventilation which makes CO2 gassing uneconomical and impractical since the CO2 gas easily escapes.
GROW’s CO2 Delivery Solutions™ naturally and safely dissolves CO2 gas into water creating an aqueous CO2 solution which is then misted directly on plant leaves. GROW has demonstrated its technology to be as effective as CO2 gassing by improving crop yields up to 30%, while using a fraction of the CO2 gas. The CO2 solution’s micro droplets create an aqueous film around the entire leaf surface, isolating the leaf from the atmosphere. This creates a diffusion gradient favoring CO2 transport into the leaf and other gases out of the leaf. Increased carbon availability enhances photosynthesis resulting in faster and larger plant growth. CO2 Delivery Solutions™ has been demonstrated on crops including Cannabis, hemp, lettuce, kale, microgreens, peppers and flowers. In addition, aqueous CO2 misting offers Perimeter Protection™ for plants by slowing the spread of micro pathogens such as E. coli and powdery mildew. Greenhouse growers everywhere can now supplement CO2 to their crops using CO2 Delivery Solutions™, increasing plant yields and profits.
Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on CO2 GRO’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information, please visit www.co2gro.ca or contact Sam Kanes, VP Communications at 416-315-7477 or Michael O’Connor, Manager of Investor Relations at 604-317-6197.
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