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Innovative Finnish Company Makes Sustainable Alcohol
EuroWeekly News ^ | 16 Jan 2024 | John Ensor

Posted on 01/16/2024 12:42:59 PM PST by nickcarraway

Finnish start-up company Aircohol is pioneering the creation of a vodka-like spirit using carbon dioxide (CO2) extracted directly from the atmosphere.

This ground-breaking approach has the potential to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint by an astonishing 50 per cent. As they say in their own words ‘Aircohol is about saving the planet in a cheerful way!’

At the core of the process is a bioreactor that converts CO2 into alcohol through a two-day fermentation process, all while avoiding the emission of greenhouse gases.

The results can be distilled yet further to produce a vodka-like spirit with an alcohol content of up to 60 per cent. Simo Hamalainen, the founder of the Helsinki-based company, describes the product’s unique flavour profile, characterised by hints of ‘grass, earth, and sweetness.’

Aircohol’s unique product can also be used in beer production by incorporating malts and similar ingredients.

‘Green’ alcohol

Aircohol’s website proudly proclaims: ‘We clear the air by turning carbon dioxide into wonderful drinks.’

Beyond its environmental benefits, Aircohol’s approach also preserves traditional raw materials like wheat and barley, which are typically used in alcohol production. ‘Natural Aircohol process reduces emissions and leaves the planet’s resources untouched.’

Collaboration with established producers Aircohol, established in 2022, has managed to secur a substantial €2.4 million in funding and established a partnership with Brukett, a renowned Finnish brewery.

Currently, the six-member team is in discussions with major alcohol companies worldwide, in the hope that others will want to move forward and adopt their innovative technology.

According to Aircohol: ‘Global alcohol industry produces hundreds of megatons of CO2.’ They add that with their unique process, ’emissions never reach the atmosphere, and the process leaves nature’s resources untouched.’

As the world confronts the challenges of climate change and sustainability, Aircohol’s innovative approach to alcohol production offers an incredible example of how even well-established industries with years of traditional methods could reinvent themselves.

There are plans to market the product in Finland in 2024, with the UK to follow in the next two to three years.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; Local News
KEYWORDS: alcohol; finland

1 posted on 01/16/2024 12:42:59 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Next thing you know they’ll be making liquor from corn...


2 posted on 01/16/2024 12:45:04 PM PST by bigbob
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To: nickcarraway
CO2


3 posted on 01/16/2024 12:46:18 PM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: nickcarraway

Everybodies dream, booze out of thin air!


4 posted on 01/16/2024 12:52:44 PM PST by Ed Condon (subliminal messages here in invisible ink)
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To: nickcarraway

Who knew? Organic chemistry is carbon based.


5 posted on 01/16/2024 12:59:25 PM PST by Rinnwald
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To: nickcarraway

All of the plants need that.


6 posted on 01/16/2024 1:05:11 PM PST by Mark (DONATE ONCE every 3 months-is that a big deal?)
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To: nickcarraway

creation of a vodka-like spirit


Like vodka ghosts?

creation of a vodka-like spirit using carbon dioxide (CO2) extracted directly from the atmosphere.


Isn’t that how potatoes and corn do it?


7 posted on 01/16/2024 1:44:58 PM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Ed Condon

Everybodies dream, booze out of thin air!


Trees, are mostly made of thin air!


8 posted on 01/16/2024 1:47:04 PM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: nickcarraway

the creation of a vodka-like spirit using carbon dioxide (CO2) extracted directly from the atmosphere.
= = =

So, if I get the right kind of mask, I can breathe in alcohol?


9 posted on 01/16/2024 2:47:09 PM PST by Scrambler Bob
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To: nickcarraway

Those Finns certainly have their priorities in order.


10 posted on 01/16/2024 2:47:37 PM PST by Silentgypsy (In my defense, I was left unsupervised.)
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To: Scrambler Bob

I hear it gives you bad gas though. Methane farts.


11 posted on 01/16/2024 3:48:30 PM PST by oldasrocks
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To: nickcarraway
At the core of the process is a bioreactor that converts CO2 into alcohol through a two-day fermentation process, all while avoiding the emission of greenhouse gases.

If this is true, every brewery could just take all their offgas and make even more! But I'm confused, what kind of fermentation takes CO2 in, and not out? Or is this actually a chemical reaction so they're worried people won't think it's natural enough?
12 posted on 01/17/2024 5:37:22 AM PST by Svartalfiar
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