Air Company is an American engineering company, beverage maker, and producer of

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

products based in New York City. Founded in 2017 by Gregory Constantine and Stafford Sheehan, Air Company's chief product is

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

made from

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

, a

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

that significantly contributes to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, which the process captures and converts to ethanol pure enough for human consumption. The company first released its

carbon negative Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is a process in which carbon dioxide () is removed from the atmosphere by deliberate human activities and durably stored in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products.IPCC, 2021:Annex VII: Glossar ...

vodka in November 2019 in the New York City area. Air Company is also developing its ethanol production process for use in producing other products. This includes working with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

as part of the CO₂ Conversion Challenge to produce

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

for use in space as a food source.

History

Air Company was founded in 2017 by Gregory Constantine, who previously worked as a marketer for beverage producer

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

, and Stafford Sheehan, a chemist with a Ph.D. from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Sheehan created a process for producing

from

, a

that significantly contributes to

. In 2019, the company opened a facility in the

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; the cemeteries of Highland Park to the southe ...

neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. Constantine is chief executive officer, and Sheehan is chief technical officer. Air Company was the winner of the 2017

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Ideas4Change award. In 2019, Air Company won a gold medal in the Ultra Premium

category after a blind taste test at the Luxury Masters competition held annually by '' The Spirits Business'' magazine. In May 2019, Air Company was one of five winners of the first phase of

's CO₂ Conversion Challenge, part of the

Centennial Challenges The Centennial Challenges are NASA space competition inducement prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams. Origin NASA's Centennial Challenge Program (CCP) directly engages the public at large in the ...

. The company is working with NASA to explore the use of ethanol created by its process to produce

for use in space as a food source. The company officially released its first vodka in November 2019 in the New York City area, including at Michelin-star restaurants like Eleven Madison Park and Gramercy Tavern. As of March 2020, Air Company was one of ten finalists for the Carbon XPrize which awards two prizes of $7.5 million to teams that develop the most financially profitable uses for carbon dioxide. By then, more than 60 venues in New York City area had committed to selling the vodka in their establishments before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2020, Air Vodka was recognized by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine as one of "The Best Inventions of 2020". As the pandemic began to spread, Air Company began using the process to produce

hand sanitizer Hand sanitizer (also known as hand antiseptic, hand disinfectant, hand rub, or handrub) is a liquid, gel, or foam used to kill viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms on the hands. It can also come in the form of a cream, spray, or wipe. W ...

. Other uses in development also include perfumes and rocket fuel. Air Company is also creating a facility in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

that is about ten times the size of its Brooklyn distillery. By May 2022, Air Company had raised $40 million in funding including from

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation, stylized as jetBlue, is an American major airline headquartered in Long Island City, in Queens, New York City. Primarily a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue's network features six focus cities including its main hub ...

, and

Parley for the Oceans Parley for the Oceans is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit environmental organization that focuses on protection of the oceans. It was founded in 2012 by Cyrill Gutsch. Background Before founding Parley for the Oceans, Cyrill Gutsch worked as ...

Production process

Air Company uses

heterogeneous catalysis Heterogeneous catalysis is catalysis where the Phase (matter), phase of catalysts differs from that of the reagents or product (chemistry), products. The process contrasts with homogeneous catalysis where the reagents, products and catalyst exis ...

hydrogenate Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organi ...

carbon dioxide () to produce ethanol (). The catalyst developed by Sheehan, unlike other catalysts used in hydrogenation, contains no

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...

s. It produces ethanol sufficiently pure enough for use in beverages, foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, cleaning products, and fragrances with oxygen and water as the only byproducts. It also creates less of other alcohol byproducts such as

propanol There are two isomers of propanol. * 1-Propanol, ''n''-propanol, or propan-1-ol: CH3CH2CH2OH, the most common meaning *2-Propanol, isopropyl alcohol, isopropanol, or propan-2-ol: (CH3)2CHOH See also * Propanal (propionaldehyde) differs in spel ...

butanol Butanol (also called butyl alcohol) is a four-carbon alcohol with a formula of C4 H9 OH, which occurs in five isomeric structures (four structural isomers), from a straight-chain primary alcohol to a branched-chain tertiary alcohol; all are a bu ...

, and

pentanol Amyl alcohols are alcohols with the formula C5H11OH. Eight are known. A mixture of amyl alcohols (also called amyl alcohol) can be obtained from fusel alcohol. Amyl alcohol is used as a solvent and in esterification In chemistry, an ester is ...

. The CO₂ captured in the production of a bottle of Air Vodka is roughly equivalent to the carbon dioxide consumed by eight trees in a day. Air Vodka has a net-negative CO₂ emissions level of 1.45 to 1.47 per a mass unit of ethanol produced. Its CO₂ supply comes mostly from the byproducts of traditional alcohol producers and ethanol factories that use fermentation of sugars in their distillery process. The CO₂ is liquefied at a Niagara Falls facility that is powered by hydroelectric energy and transported to Air Company's distillery in Brooklyn. The hydrogen supply is generated by electrolyzing water using

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

and releases oxygen in the process.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://aircompany.com/ 2021 establishments in New York City Companies based in Brooklyn Engineering companies of the United States