Wash your hands with captured CO2
Due to the Corona pandemic, companies around the world are switching from making liquor and perfumes to making ethanol for hand sanitizer. New York based vodka producer Air Co. is doing the same – only their sanitizer is made out of captured CO2. How’s that even possible? Read More
Traditional vodka is made from fermented corn, potato or wheat. For over a year now, New York distillery Air Co. has been making it out of captured CO2. Air Co’s production process is similar to that of photosynthesis where plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to produce carbohydrates and oxygen. In the same way, Air Co. uses solar power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is released, and the hydrogen is combined with CO2 sourced from beverage manufacturing plants and ethanol factories. A special catalyst helps produce alcohol and water and then the latter is removed in a final step via distillation. Et voilà: vodka time!
Vodka made out of thin air
According to the company, their vodka is purer than traditional vodka, since fermentation creates impurities that are hard to remove. “Air Co.’s process circumvents the production of these impurities entirely by connecting two carbon dioxide molecules” and “building up to produce ethanol, rather than breaking down larger molecules that produce a wash with high impurity content,” says the company’s CEO and co-founder Greg Constantine.
The production of a regular bottle of vodka can produce about 13 pounds of greenhouse gases, he estimates. By contrast, a bottle of Air Co. vodka not only generates none of these harmful gases; it also removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere making it ‘carbon negative’.
As a consequence of their specific production process, Air Co. vodka doesn’t require the large areas usually needed for fermentation inside distilleries nor fields to grow corn, potatoes or wheat. The technology also bypasses the corresponding water consumption and irrigation costs.
Since sanitizer is made out of 80 percent ethanol, Air Co.’s main output, the company has redirected its entire production capacity.
Producing carbon-negative sanitizer
Since sanitizer is made out of 80 percent ethanol, Air Co.’s main output, the company has redirected its entire production capacity to produce as many bottles as possible during the Covid-19 pandemic – about 1,000 50ml bottles a week in March 2020. The company reports all bottles were being donated and distributed to those who needed them most, according to the advice of the communal authorities, or directly handed over to food delivery personnel who face higher infection risks for being “at the forefront of food services here in New York City,” as Constantine puts it.
The production shift didn’t come without challenges though. The company has had to adapt and reduce its processes so they can be run by a small team and minimize human interaction during the pandemic. Producing sanitizer for donation also generates no revenue. But the company is planning to use this experience to diversify their business in future, and is considering expanding their range of products to include carbon-negative ethanol for fragrances and home cleaning supplies as well.