Modern science has led to many incredible and life-saving innovations, but the power of thin air is a lesser-known territory. Here, Vogue Scandinavia explores how products made out of air can teach us more about sustainability and resources within beauty
As temperatures soar across Europe this summer, it is difficult for anyone to ignore urgency of the climate crisis. Technically, climate change can occur naturally with evolution. But scientists say they can prove that these record-breaking temperatures are no natural event and restoring nature's balance should be the top priority.
As a result of the heat, wildfires are raging and there are alarming reports of rising heat from both poles. The changes have a direct effect on agriculture and food production, and in turn, an estimated one billion people will suffer the worst effects of the climate emergency. Reading the apocalyptic news every day, climate anxiety is a natural response for many of us. Then again, we don't want to end up in 'a rabbit in headlights' mode, feeling so overwhelmed that we don't know how to act. Let's ground ourselves and bring the topic down to Earth for a bit.
CO2 in the air can be both good and bad. To understand the positive aspect, we can look at how humans and animals breathe. When we exhale, the odourless gas of carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted. Plants use this gas and sunlight to make food —a process known as photosynthesis. In this process, plants give off oxygen as a byproduct.
Conversely, excessive CO2 produced, like when cars and power plants burn coal and oil, is harmful. When experts say we need to rethink how we consume, aka less. It's primarily to allocate energy for manufacturing renewables that we need in order to give up fossil fuels. We can't afford to waste emissions on non-necessities.
So, what can we learn from this process?
Innovation and technology shouldn't be the sole solution that we depend upon, but the production of gateway products can be a step in the right direction.
Take the tongue-twister term 'carbon sequestrations'. The process involves securing carbon dioxide to prevent it from entering the Earth's atmosphere. Biological sequestration happens in nature when CO2 is stored in vegetation such as forests, soils, and oceans, and the human-created version would be technological sequestration.
Scientists are constantly exploring how to remove and store carbon by using innovative technologies, and the next step is researching how it can be used as a resource. The fashion industry has used carbon fibre in shoes and bags for some time (see Balenciaga's latest collections). Nowadays, we can even find the fibres in yoga mats.
This leads to the question, can we make beauty products out of air?
Air Company, co-founded by entrepreneur Gregory Constantine and Dr Stafford Sheehan, a world-leading scientist, is doing just that. They have taken the problem we face with CO2 emissions and presented a tangible product, the world's first Air Eau de Parfum.
Their patented technology imitates photosynthesis by taking captured CO2 and converting it into impurity-free alcohol with oxygen and water as the only byproducts. The carbon dioxide is transformed into a very pure form of ethanol, resulting in perfume primarily being made from air.
They use this alcohol to create a variety of consumer goods like air vodka and a spray hand sanitiser. "We believe that products are one of the best ways to educate people about a much bigger story‚ and that story is climate change", Greg says, "and nature is our inspiration. Our perfume smells like fig leaf, orange peel and jasmine and is inspired by the earth’s most abundant and vital elements of air, water and sun."
Explaining the process, he continues, “the CO2 used in our process is captured from traditional fermentation and industrial alcohol plants before it is emitted into the atmosphere. Simultaneously, our electrolyser splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. While the oxygen is released into the atmosphere, the hydrogen is fed into our conversion reactor system along with the captured CO2.”
Looking towards the future, they are harnessing their process to aid future innovations across all industries. "We hope that by working with nature, rather than against it, we've developed technologies that mimic photosynthesis to utilise as much CO2 as possible.”