A number of startups are transforming carbon dioxide, captured either from industrial emissions or directly from the air, into something useful and eliminating damaging emissions in the process. Products like vodka, shoes, concrete, carbon fibre, plastic, foam and even food are being created by using CO2, The Guardian reported.

California-based company Twelve, founded in 2015, converts the gas into synthesis gas (syngas), which is a mix of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Synthesis gas can be used to make a range of familiar products usually made from fossil fuels. In August, the syngas was used to make fossil-free jet fuel in partnership with the US Air Force.

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“This is a new way of moving carbon through our economy without pulling it out of the ground,” Nicholas Flanders, Co-Founder and CEO of Twelve, told The Guardian.

Apart from other ventures, Twelve is also partnering with Mercedes Benz to explore ways of using syngas to make parts of car interiors.

With a rising number of companies showing interest in the new carbon tech industry, venture capital investments are on the rise as well. Till September, more than $550 million has been invested this year in the industry, research and consulting firm Cleantech Group said. This is more than the investment of the previous five years put together.

According to the University of Michigan’s Global CO2 Initiative, the sector may have the potential to lower the world’s carbon emissions by over 10 percent.

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Premium shoe brand On is exploring ways of making its shoe bottom foam from captured carbon instead of petrochemicals. The company is partnering with US-based startup LanzaTech, which makes ethanol from waste carbon monoxide collected from factories. On plans to unveil the first pair of shoes made from captured carbon next year.

Apart from hand sanitisers and perfumes, New York-based Air Company is making vodka from carbon dioxide. One litre of vodka is reportedly removing a pound of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Canadian firm CarbonCure is injecting carbon dioxide into concrete while it is mixed in order to making building material. Once injected, the carbon dioxide reacts with the wet concrete and gets permanently stored as a mineral.

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This is not the first time that carbon dioxide is being used industrially. However, these startups are, for the first time, chemically transforming the carbon dioxide to make new products.

One of the biggest challenges for the industry is scaling up production, which is capital intensive and time consuming. Another roadblock is finding customers in the form of big companies like On.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Dec 7, 2021 4:21 PM IST