Vodka?
Yes, vodka, but this is quite different from the others. This brand of vodka is made from the air we breathe.
You see, for years vodka has been made by fermenting grains such as maize and wheat, which inevitably led to carbon emissions.
Air Co. in Brooklyn has discovered a simpler way to distill the spirit out of nothing but water and carbon dioxide in a process that makes CO2 into ethyl alcohol. Air Vodka doesn't just make the trick in a Moscow mule, but it is also negative carbon: NASA-winning technology takes around 1 pound of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere for each bottle made.
Air Co. says its patented system works by using (renewable solar) electricity to turn carbon from the air into pure ethanol.
It is inspired by nature's photosynthesis where plants breathe CO2. They use water to create products like sugars and to make higher values of hydrocarbons, using energy in the form of sunlight, with oxygen as the only by-products. The same goes with our procedure: the only byproduct is oxygen." said Stafford Sheehan, electrochemist and co-founder Air co.
The equipment used by Air Co. separates water into hydrogen and oxygen, and mixes hydrogen with carbon dioxide, which provides alcohol and water only by emitting oxygen into the air. The carbon dioxide is derived from facilities near Air co's Brooklyn, New York Headquarters. The water is then distilled and the alcohol is left behind. Air Co. has said that its vodka is exempt from the impurities of the grain used in conventional vodka manufacture.
However, Air Co.’s concept of converting carbon into alcohol isn’t new. In 2017, Ph.D. students from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands also figured out a way to make alcohol out of air.
Constantine says that it starts with Air Co., and that in 2020 it will only be delivering its product to a couple of chosen bars and restaurants in New York City. It remains to be seen who will be able to pay the price for eco-friendly vodka (a 750 ml bottle of Absolut or tito's vodka costs around $20, relative to $65 of the Air Co) it hasn't been disclosed how expensive it will be to manufacture the bottle of vodka.
Air Co.’s carbon converting system has received awards from NASA, The United Nations and it is one of five finalists for a $20 million global XPRIZE (the world’s largest carbon technology competition).
Air co. is not merely a vodka business, however. The business founded by co-founders Gregory Constantine, Chief Executive Officer and Stafford Sheehan, CTO, has described itself as "a New York City technology and design company designing and creating products that shape our future."
The environmental development corporation produces proprietary technology — all intended to benefit the environment by turning ambient carbon emissions into useful goods. Other things from the air co. we may see in the future include perfumes and other consumer goods dependent on ethanol.