How an unusual vodka created in Brooklyn could help colonize Mars

The process of creating vodka using standard potato fermentation releases carbon. This means that each $750 65-gram bottle of vodka absorbs the same amount of carbon as eight bushes. tech stations.

Air Co. patented the process of distilling vodka using only two ingredients - carbon dioxide and water. Air Co. already boasts awards from NASA and the United Nations for its distillation technology, which the company says actively helps fight climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during production.

The corporation is implementing its project at two solar-powered facilities in Bushwick, Brooklyn. And uses technology invented to convert carbon dioxide into ethyl alcohol or ethanol. Together with vodka, the production of which the company launched in 2019, Air Co. also makes hand sanitizers and fragrances.

Gregory Constantine, CEO of Air Co., mentioned that the company's recently raised $30 million investment will allow the startup to develop its highly sought-after products. The company has already created 20 liters of vodka, disinfectants and flavors. Air Co purchases carbon from various websites along with regular distillers.

The investors of the project are the corporate fund Carbon Direct Capital Administration, aimed at the elimination and utilization of carbon emissions; environmental group Parley for the Oceans; as well as corporate funds managed by Toyota and JetBlue.

According to Konstantin, Air Co. employs 35 people and he expects to double that number by the end of the year. In addition, the company plans to open a 3rd production facility. But the corporation has not yet determined the place and time when it can open.

Constantine co-founded the company with Stafford Sheehan, who developed the patented Air Co. carbon dioxide recycling process. Sheehan now holds the position of Chief Forensic Specialist.

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Despite plans to expand its product range, Air Co. is neither an alcoholic nor a perfume company.

“We are an expert firm,” Konstantin said. “Our clients are a fantastic scientific community. We now have a big dream, creative and visionary, that must eventually prove to be economically viable.”

Interplanetary vodka

In addition to vodka, the company hopes to develop jet and rocket fuel from trapped carbon. Last year, the company was tasked by NASA to turn carbon dioxide into sugar.

“The atmosphere of Mars is, in a way, entirely composed of carbon dioxide,” Konstantin says. “So if you can convert CO2 into an alcohol like ethanol, the ethanol can then be converted into substances like proteins or sugars—the building blocks for various objects. It's really useful for space use and we'll start getting enthusiastic about interplanetary colonization. So NASA is ready to reward and fund corporations like ours to continue working on these improvements.”

On this planet, a corporation's goal is to ultimately reduce the world's carbon footprint. Its goal is to process about 4,6 billion tons per year to help deal with the climate disaster.