Market Grows for Products Made With Recycled Carbon
2021-10-12
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1Diamonds, sunglasses and sports clothing can be made using carbon dioxide, or CO2, one of the major gases causing the Earth's atmosphere to warm.
2Young technology companies making such manufacturing possible are getting attention from investors.
3Some manufacturing methods use bacteria. Others use proteins.
4Some use chemical processes to speed natural reactions.
5Most separate the carbon and oxygen in CO2 to create another chemical that is used to make popular products.
6It is estimated that these companies have raised over $800 million so far this year.
7That is more than three times their 2020 total, reports Reuters.
8The news agency examined data from research companies PitchBook, Circular Carbon Network, Cleantech Group and Climate Tech VC.
9"I don't want to call it a green tax, but our consumers who really do care...have demonstrated that they're willing to pay a bit of a premium," said Ryan Shearman.
10He is chief of Aether Diamonds, which uses captured CO2 to manufacture diamonds.
11Another use of recycled carbon is less shiny but still strong: concrete.
12CarbonCure Technologies is developing a method that injects CO2 into fresh concrete.
13The trapped carbon strengthens the concrete and keeps the gas out of the air.
14Robin Niven leads the company. He said the word "green" is good for marketing products.
15"About 90 percent of our uptake has been from independent concrete producers large and small that are just looking for that competitive edge."
16The United Nations says countries need to capture and store 10 billion tonnes of CO2 every year by 2050 to slow climate change.
17Current carbon capture programs, however, can only store thousands of tonnes.
18Humans produce heat trapping gases equal to around 50 billion tonnes of CO2 each year.
19International officials will gather in Scotland in late October and November for a U.N. climate conference on cutting gas emissions, or releases.
20In May, Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy released a report on CO2 recycling.
21The report said that, if all products made from oil used recycled CO2 instead, it would result in about 6.8 billion fewer tonnes of carbon emissions.
22Amar Bhardwaj was the lead writer. He said CO2 recycling is not always the best choice.
23He said that trying to reduce carbon emission only with recycling "would be a misuse of CO2 recycling," because there are less costly methods.
24Nicholas Flanders is a co-founder of a company called Twelve. It uses chemical processes to reuse CO2.
25Flanders said recycling is better than storing captured CO2 underground.
26"We're developing a technology that can go toe to toe with fossil fuels," he said.
27He added that his company can remove carbon without seeking financial support from the government.
28That is because many consumers are interested in the "green" message of carbon recycling.
29Clothing company lululemon athletica says it has created a polyester material from carbon emissions jointly with LanzaTech.
30That company uses bacteria to recycle ethanol, a kind of alcohol, into ethylene.
31Ethylene is used to make polyester cloth and plastic containers.
32LanzaTech has raised the most money of the companies competing in the field, the Reuters examination found.
33CEO Jennifer Holmgren said LanzaTech's ethanol costs more than ethanol made from corn, but people who want green products are buying anyway.
34The biggest investment in the new market this year, more than $350 million, went to Solugen, a company based in Houston, Texas.
35Solugen feeds CO2 and other things to enzymes that make chemicals for stronger cement, water pipe coatings and other products.
36Its products already cost less than those made from fossil fuels, said Solugen chief Gaurab Chakrabarti.
37The company does not get its CO2 from factory emissions or from the air.
38However, Chakrabarti does describe this as "an option."
39Capturing CO2 does not seem like a good idea to investors, who think the government should be responsible for such high-cost, high-risk projects.
40However, Nicholas Moore Eisenberger, of investment group Pure Energy Partners, thinks differently.
41He invested in direct air capture company Global Thermostat.
42He said he sees opportunity in necessity.
43He believes that once the projects grow enough, costs will fall.
44"The science tells us that we have under a decade to start to bend the curve on climate, and that is now within the investment time frame" of most private investors Eisenberger said.
45I'm Caty Weaver.
1Diamonds, sunglasses and sports clothing can be made using carbon dioxide, or CO2, one of the major gases causing the Earth's atmosphere to warm. 2Young technology companies making such manufacturing possible are getting attention from investors. 3Some manufacturing methods use bacteria. Others use proteins. Some use chemical processes to speed natural reactions. Most separate the carbon and oxygen in CO2 to create another chemical that is used to make popular products. 4It is estimated that these companies have raised over $800 million so far this year. That is more than three times their 2020 total, reports Reuters. The news agency examined data from research companies PitchBook, Circular Carbon Network, Cleantech Group and Climate Tech VC. 5"I don't want to call it a green tax, but our consumers who really do care...have demonstrated that they're willing to pay a bit of a premium," said Ryan Shearman. He is chief of Aether Diamonds, which uses captured CO2 to manufacture diamonds. 6Another use of recycled carbon is less shiny but still strong: concrete. CarbonCure Technologies is developing a method that injects CO2 into fresh concrete. The trapped carbon strengthens the concrete and keeps the gas out of the air. 7Robin Niven leads the company. He said the word "green" is good for marketing products. 8"About 90 percent of our uptake has been from independent concrete producers large and small that are just looking for that competitive edge." 9UN aims to reduce CO2 emissions 10The United Nations says countries need to capture and store 10 billion tonnes of CO2 every year by 2050 to slow climate change. Current carbon capture programs, however, can only store thousands of tonnes. 11Humans produce heat trapping gases equal to around 50 billion tonnes of CO2 each year. International officials will gather in Scotland in late October and November for a U.N. climate conference on cutting gas emissions, or releases. 12In May, Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy released a report on CO2 recycling. The report said that, if all products made from oil used recycled CO2 instead, it would result in about 6.8 billion fewer tonnes of carbon emissions. 13Amar Bhardwaj was the lead writer. He said CO2 recycling is not always the best choice. He said that trying to reduce carbon emission only with recycling "would be a misuse of CO2 recycling," because there are less costly methods. 14Nicholas Flanders is a co-founder of a company called Twelve. It uses chemical processes to reuse CO2. Flanders said recycling is better than storing captured CO2 underground. "We're developing a technology that can go toe to toe with fossil fuels," he said. He added that his company can remove carbon without seeking financial support from the government. 15That is because many consumers are interested in the "green" message of carbon recycling. 16Clothing company lululemon athletica says it has created a polyester material from carbon emissions jointly with LanzaTech. That company uses bacteria to recycle ethanol, a kind of alcohol, into ethylene. Ethylene is used to make polyester cloth and plastic containers. 17LanzaTech has raised the most money of the companies competing in the field, the Reuters examination found. 18CEO Jennifer Holmgren said LanzaTech's ethanol costs more than ethanol made from corn, but people who want green products are buying anyway. 19The biggest investment in the new market this year, more than $350 million, went to Solugen, a company based in Houston, Texas. Solugen feeds CO2 and other things to enzymes that make chemicals for stronger cement, water pipe coatings and other products. 20Its products already cost less than those made from fossil fuels, said Solugen chief Gaurab Chakrabarti. The company does not get its CO2 from factory emissions or from the air. However, Chakrabarti does describe this as "an option." 21Capturing CO2 does not seem like a good idea to investors, who think the government should be responsible for such high-cost, high-risk projects. 22However, Nicholas Moore Eisenberger, of investment group Pure Energy Partners, thinks differently. He invested in direct air capture company Global Thermostat. He said he sees opportunity in necessity. He believes that once the projects grow enough, costs will fall. 23"The science tells us that we have under a decade to start to bend the curve on climate, and that is now within the investment time frame" of most private investors Eisenberger said. 24I'm Caty Weaver. 25Reuters reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 26__________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28green -adj. concerned with protecting the environment (from the color green) 29consumer -n. a person who buys goods and services 30premium -n. a price that is higher than the regular or normal price 31recycle -v. to make something new from (something that has been used before) 32toe to toe -idiom to compete against someone 33fossil fuels -n.(pl.) fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) which are formed in the Earth from dead plant and animal matter 34option -n. something that can be chosen; a choice or possibility 35opportunity -n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done; a chance 36decade -n. 10 years 37time frame -n. a period of time that is used or planned for a particular action or project