After vodka, here comes CO2-based perfume | The HuffPost

INNOVATION - It smells like CO2. The start-up Air Company has just released a new eau de parfum whose main ingredient, ethanol (pure alcohol), uses CO2 captured in the air.

Ethanol is usually obtained by fermentation and distillation of a grain, such as corn. The cultivation of cereals consumes a lot of water, releases greenhouse gases responsible for global warming and uses chemical fertilizers. Nothing very happy for the planet.

That's why Air Company, in its Brooklyn plant, has developed CO2 capture technology. The start-up sucks in CO2 from nearby industries and combines it with hydrogen it produces through electrolysis, a process that separates oxygen and hydrogen from water. This technique makes it possible to create ethanol, an ingredient present in alcoholic beverages or in disinfectant gels.

The company also took advantage of the boom in the hydro-alcoholic gel market during the Covid epidemic to develop its own “carbon neutral” gel. Before that, she had made a name for herself by producing Air vodka, a 40% alcohol drink that would remove 0.5 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere for each bottle made. Praising this advance, Air Company points out that traditional vodka releases around 7kg of CO2 per bottle.

And the start-up sees even further: it plans to sell CO2-based jet fuel. Gregory Constantine, co-founder and managing director, explains his ambition in FastCompany: “Our goal has always been (...) to show people that it is possible to make truly sustainable products that people use every day in their lives” .

Imagine working 8 hours and then having your 2nd job asking you to come in when you're not scheduled and you don't know how to say no

— Lilstarfox🐾 Tue Jul 20 23:38:06 +0000 2021

A scent of greenwashing

The initiative is commendable on paper, but compared to the magnitude of the amount of greenhouse gases released by humans, this innovation may pass for a measuring spoon. In addition, many researchers point out that the technologies needed to capture and store carbon in the air are not yet viable to sufficiently reduce atmospheric CO2.

It is a “dangerous distraction” for some environmentalists, recalls the British daily The Guardian. For them, only laying off the oil, coal and gas industries will avert climate catastrophe. Capture and storage techniques could even promote the exploitation of hydrocarbons, reports this column of Reporterre.

Yes, but for Grégory Constantine, society will not change its habits to constrain itself to greenhouse gas reduction targets, it is up to industries to comply: “People are going to drink no matter what, answers he told The Guardian, "They've been drinking alcohol for thousands of years, so if you can offer a solution that makes them feel better about it, that's part of the solution."

A position supported by the billionaire and boss of SpaceX Elon Musk, who promised in January 100 million dollars to whoever would develop the best technology to capture CO2.

See also on The HuffPost: Greenpeace hands over the 2020 “climate cannonballs” with a special prize to Macron