IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i7p2809-d1617683.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CO 2 Enrichment in Protected Agriculture: A Systematic Review of Greenhouses, Controlled Environment Systems, and Vertical Farms—Part 2

Author

Listed:
  • Edwin Villagran

    (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—Agrosavia, Centro de Investigación Tibaitata, Km 14, vía Mosquera-Bogotá, Mosquera 250040, Colombia)

  • John Javier Espitia

    (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—Agrosavia, Centro de Investigación Tibaitata, Km 14, vía Mosquera-Bogotá, Mosquera 250040, Colombia)

  • Gina Amado

    (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—Agrosavia, Centro de Investigación Tibaitata, Km 14, vía Mosquera-Bogotá, Mosquera 250040, Colombia)

  • Jader Rodriguez

    (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria—Agrosavia, Centro de Investigación Tibaitata, Km 14, vía Mosquera-Bogotá, Mosquera 250040, Colombia)

  • Luisa Gomez

    (Engineering and Technology Department, International University of La Rioja (UNIR), Bogota 110111, Colombia)

  • Jorge Flores Velasquez

    (Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillos, Carretera Mexico Texcoco, Km. 36.52, Texcoco 56230, Mexico)

  • Rodrigo Gil

    (Departamento de Agronomía, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota 16486, Colombia)

  • Esteban Baeza

    (COEXPHAL, Departamento de i+d, Av. de las Cantinas, 2, La Mojonera, 04746 Almería, Spain)

  • Cruz Ernesto Aguilar

    (Tecnologico Nacional de Mexico/ITS de los Reyes, Carretera Los Reyes-Jacona, Col. Libertad, Los Reyes de Salgado 60300, Mexico)

  • Mohammad Akrami

    (Department of Engineering, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK)

  • Luis Alejandro Arias

    (Centro de Bio-Sistemas, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Ingeniería, Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Bogotá 110311, Colombia)

Abstract

CO 2 enrichment in protected agriculture has been extensively studied as a strategy to enhance crop productivity, resource use efficiency, and climate resilience. This systematic review examines the scientific literature on CO 2 enrichment in greenhouses, vertical farms, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems, with a focus on its impact on crop physiology, photosynthesis, agricultural yield, modeling and simulation techniques, injection technologies, and sustainability challenges. A comprehensive bibliometric and systematic search was conducted in the Scopus database using key terms related to CO 2 enrichment and sustainable protected agriculture, following the PRISMA methodology. From an initial set of 212 documents, 171 were selected after removing duplicates, inaccessible articles, and studies not directly relevant to this context. The findings indicate that CO 2 enrichment can significantly improve photosynthetic efficiency, water use efficiency, and crop productivity, although its impact varies depending on species, environmental conditions, and application strategies. Computational models, such as CFD and machine learning, have optimized CO 2 distribution in controlled environments, contributing to more precise and resource-efficient agricultural practices. However, environmental and economic concerns, particularly energy consumption, carbon footprint, and the sustainability of CO 2 sources, remain critical challenges. To ensure the sustainable adoption of CO 2 enrichment, it is essential to integrate renewable energy sources, carbon capture and reuse technologies, and advanced CO 2 injection systems. This review provides a holistic assessment of current knowledge, identifying opportunities and barriers for the development of climate-smart protected agriculture systems that align with global sustainability goals and contribute to food security and environmental stewardship.

Suggested Citation

  • Edwin Villagran & John Javier Espitia & Gina Amado & Jader Rodriguez & Luisa Gomez & Jorge Flores Velasquez & Rodrigo Gil & Esteban Baeza & Cruz Ernesto Aguilar & Mohammad Akrami & Luis Alejandro Aria, 2025. "CO 2 Enrichment in Protected Agriculture: A Systematic Review of Greenhouses, Controlled Environment Systems, and Vertical Farms—Part 2," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-40, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:2809-:d:1617683
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/2809/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/2809/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graamans, Luuk & Baeza, Esteban & van den Dobbelsteen, Andy & Tsafaras, Ilias & Stanghellini, Cecilia, 2018. "Plant factories versus greenhouses: Comparison of resource use efficiency," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 31-43.
    2. Hong, Tingting & Cai, Zelin & Li, Rui & Liu, Jiecheng & Li, Jinglai & Wang, Zheng & Zhang, Zhi, 2022. "Effects of water and nitrogen coupling on watermelon growth, photosynthesis and yield under CO2 enrichment," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    3. Edwin Villagran & Carlos Bojacá & Mohammad Akrami, 2021. "Contribution to the Sustainability of Agricultural Production in Greenhouses Built on Slope Soils: A Numerical Study of the Microclimatic Behavior of a Typical Colombian Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-22, April.
    4. Vadiee, Amir & Martin, Viktoria, 2014. "Energy management strategies for commercial greenhouses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 880-888.
    5. Diego Alejandro Salinas-Velandia & Felipe Romero-Perdomo & Stephanie Numa-Vergel & Edwin Villagrán & Pilar Donado-Godoy & Julio Ricardo Galindo-Pacheco, 2022. "Insights into Circular Horticulture: Knowledge Diffusion, Resource Circulation, One Health Approach, and Greenhouse Technologies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Lulu Yao & Yongzhong Zhang & Chao Zhao & Feida Zhao & Song Bai, 2022. "The PRISMA 2020 Statement: A System Review of Hospital Preparedness for Bioterrorism Events," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Haoyang Chen & Xue Dong & Jie Lei & Ning Zhang & Qianrui Wang & Zhiang Shi & Jinxing Yang, 2024. "Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Capture by an Intelligent Vertical Plant Factory within an Industrial Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-26, January.
    8. Satoshi Takeya & Sanehiro Muromachi & Tatsuo Maekawa & Yoshitaka Yamamoto & Hiroko Mimachi & Takahiro Kinoshita & Tetsuro Murayama & Hiroki Umeda & Dong-Hyuk Ahn & Yasunaga Iwasaki & Hidenori Hashimot, 2017. "Design of Ecological CO 2 Enrichment System for Greenhouse Production using TBAB + CO 2 Semi-Clathrate Hydrate," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-12, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barkat Rabbi & Zhong-Hua Chen & Subbu Sethuvenkatraman, 2019. "Protected Cropping in Warm Climates: A Review of Humidity Control and Cooling Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-24, July.
    2. Gloria Alexandra Ortiz Rocha & Maria Angelica Pichimata & Edwin Villagran, 2021. "Research on the Microclimate of Protected Agriculture Structures Using Numerical Simulation Tools: A Technical and Bibliometric Analysis as a Contribution to the Sustainability of Under-Cover Cropping," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-40, September.
    3. Dafni Despoina Avgoustaki & George Xydis, 2020. "Plant factories in the water-food-energy Nexus era: a systematic bibliographical review," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(2), pages 253-268, April.
    4. Edwin Villagran & John Javier Espitia & Jader Rodriguez & Linda Gomez & Gina Amado & Esteban Baeza & Cruz Ernesto Aguilar-Rodríguez & Jorge Flores-Velazquez & Mohammad Akrami & Rodrigo Gil & Luis Alej, 2025. "Use of Lighting Technology in Controlled and Semi-Controlled Agriculture in Greenhouses and Protected Agriculture Systems—Part 1: Scientific and Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-41, February.
    5. Iddio, E. & Wang, L. & Thomas, Y. & McMorrow, G. & Denzer, A., 2020. "Energy efficient operation and modeling for greenhouses: A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    6. Yano, Akira & Cossu, Marco, 2019. "Energy sustainable greenhouse crop cultivation using photovoltaic technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 116-137.
    7. Wang, Han & Xiang, Youzhen & Liao, Zhenqi & Wang, Xin & Zhang, Xueyan & Huang, Xiangyang & Zhang, Fucang & Feng, Li, 2024. "Integrated assessment of water-nitrogen management for winter oilseed rape production in Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    8. Yorifuji, Ryota & Obara, Shin'ya, 2022. "Economic design of artificial light plant factories based on the energy conversion efficiency of biomass," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    9. Michael Martin & Elvira Molin, 2019. "Environmental Assessment of an Urban Vertical Hydroponic Farming System in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-14, July.
    10. Nicole Meinusch & Susanne Kramer & Oliver Körner & Jürgen Wiese & Ingolf Seick & Anita Beblek & Regine Berges & Bernhard Illenberger & Marco Illenberger & Jennifer Uebbing & Maximilian Wolf & Gunter S, 2021. "Integrated Cycles for Urban Biomass as a Strategy to Promote a CO 2 -Neutral Society—A Feasibility Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, August.
    11. Bożena Matysiak & Stanisław Kaniszewski & Jacek Dyśko & Waldemar Kowalczyk & Artur Kowalski & Maria Grzegorzewska, 2021. "The Impact of LED Light Spectrum on the Growth, Morphological Traits, and Nutritional Status of ‘Elizium’ Romaine Lettuce Grown in an Indoor Controlled Environment," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-15, November.
    12. Liu, Haijun & Yin, Congyan & Gao, Zhuangzhuang & Hou, Lizhu, 2021. "Evaluation of cucumber yield, economic benefit and water productivity under different soil matric potentials in solar greenhouses in North China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    13. Shoko Hikosaka & Eri Hayashi & Akimasa Nakano & Mieko Kasai & Toshitaka Yamaguchi & Toyoki Kozai, 2023. "Development of LCA-Multidimensional Map (LAMP): A Platform to Support Information Sharing and Formulate CO 2 -Level-Reduction Plans toward Zero Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-15, November.
    14. Heino Pesch & Louis Louw, 2023. "Exploring the Industrial Symbiosis Potential of Plant Factories during the Initial Establishment Phase," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-30, January.
    15. Theodora Karanisa & Yasmine Achour & Ahmed Ouammi & Sami Sayadi, 2022. "Smart greenhouses as the path towards precision agriculture in the food-energy and water nexus: case study of Qatar," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 521-546, December.
    16. Talbot, Marie-Hélène & Monfet, Danielle, 2024. "Analysing the influence of growing conditions on both energy load and crop yield of a controlled environment agriculture space," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 368(C).
    17. Carotti, Laura & Pistillo, Alessandro & Zauli, Ilaria & Meneghello, Davide & Martin, Michael & Pennisi, Giuseppina & Gianquinto, Giorgio & Orsini, Francesco, 2023. "Improving water use efficiency in vertical farming: Effects of growing systems, far-red radiation and planting density on lettuce cultivation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    18. Marucci, Alvaro & Cappuccini, Andrea, 2016. "Dynamic photovoltaic greenhouse: Energy efficiency in clear sky conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 362-376.
    19. Li-Chun Huang, 2019. "Consumer Attitude, Concerns, and Brand Acceptance for the Vegetables Cultivated with Sustainable Plant Factory Production Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-14, September.
    20. Cristina Ramos Cáceres & Suzanna Törnroth & Mattias Vesterlund & Andreas Johansson & Marcus Sandberg, 2022. "Data-Center Farming: Exploring the Potential of Industrial Symbiosis in a Subarctic Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:2809-:d:1617683. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.