A team of researchers from Air Co. has developed a method to take CO2 from the air and turn it into vodka. The alcohol is made using water, solar energy, and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It’s the world-first carbon-negative vodka.
A small solar-powered machine pulls CO2 from the air and then splits the gas into carbon and oxygen. Next, the molecules combine with water over a metal-based catalyst. When they reform, the result is pure ethanol.
Stafford Sheehan, electrochemist and company co-founder, told Popular Mechanics:
The process uses the same principles as photosynthesis in plants but does so more efficiently. Following conversion, we distill the 10% ethanol to 96.5% in a custom-built, 18-plate vodka still followed by additional proprietary, trade-secret processes to purify and dilute the ethanol to a 40% alcohol-by-volume vodka.
A bottle of this vodka looks the same as any other vodka, but it’s a whole lot greener! Typically, vodka produces around 13 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per bottle, but Air Co. vodka captures one pound of it instead. That’s the same amount as the daily carbon intake of about 7.5 trees per bottle! The company’s eco-friendly technology has already received awards from the United Nations and NASA for its unbelievable achievement.
As a bonus, the alcohol is also purer since it doesn’t require distillation to remove all the impurities from grains, yeast, or the fermentation processes. Furthermore, the making of this vodka doesn’t require any farmland, saving countless acres of land and water from having to be used.
At the moment, the brand is only available in New York City, distributed locally to minimize emissions from the delivery process. It can be found in various Brooklyn-based bars and restaurants. Soon, specific regional retail markets will also have it for sale at $65 a bottle.
Gregory Constantine, Air Co. cofounder and CEO, puts the company’s mission in a nutshell:
We are a technology and lifestyle brand producing consumer goods by capturing excess carbon from the air and transforming it into things of value—one product at a time.
And here’s what Constantine has to say about becoming one of the most innovative alcohol startups in the world:
Our long-term goal is to develop our own brand products in each category where we see an opportunity to disrupt the existing infrastructure. Within the consumer lifestyle space, this could mean fragrance, home cleaning, and more. In cases where our technology can support specific industries at launch, we will work to enhance our technology in line with major industrial partners. Air Co. has already established a research and development partnership with NASA, among others.
The company may have just begun, but its ambition is more significant than just a bottle of vodka. There are so many other consumer goods that need to be produced sustainably. Air Co. intends to tackle the challenge head-on and hopes to become a model for conscious consumption worldwide. It wants to provide as many products as possible that combat and prevent climate change through its carbon-capture technology.
