Chemicals from Carbon - How we're making CO2 work for us
Fossil fuel-based chemicals are used as the building blocks of thousands of products, from toothpaste to fertilizer. They are a crucial block that much of the world that we know hinges on.
The startup "Twelve" has discovered the means to make the same chemicals from carbon dioxide in a process that uses only renewable energy and water, which sounds like something from a philosopher's stone, but the company is proven and their process work.
Last spring, the startup began working with Procter & Gamble to produce a key ingredient for Tide laundry detergent, and in a program for the US Air Force in the summer, Twelve proved that it was possible to make carbon-neutral jet fuel from CO2.
They also partnered with the clothing brand Pangaia to make the world’s first CO2-based sunglasses, and is working with the biotech company LanzaTech to make polypropylene, another key material in manufacturing.
From washing up, to jet fuel, to sunglasses and thermoplastics. There seems no end to what these carbon dioxide based processes can create.
The company secured $57 million in a Series A funding round in 2021 to help it towards its goal that at scale: Twelve estimates that its products could help eliminate 2 billion to 3 billion tons of emissions each year.
