CO2
ExtractsMaking Concentrates
Marijuana extraction technology is leapfrogging into the future. That future is largely considered to belong to carbon dioxide, which normally exists as 0.039% of the air in our atmosphere. We all have a basic understanding of COz' Plants use it. Humans exhale it. At atmospheric pressure, COz has no liquid state. It goes from a solid (dry ice) directly to a gas. But at pressures greater than 5.1 standard atmospheres, it does liquefy. Extract artists exploit the physical properties of liquid and "supercritical" COz to extract and concentrate cannabinoids found on marijuana plants. The machines are expensive and require several days of training to learn how to operate, but have a number of advantages. They are far safer to operate than butane extractors, because carbon dioxide is not flammable. And any COzleft in an extract is harmless, whereas a large amount of residual butane in poorly purged BHO is not healthy. Large extraction companies are turning to COz because the equipment converts large amounts of leaf and trim into some of the cleanest, most valuable cannabis products in the world.