Today’s Solutions: July 26, 2024

scientist engineering chemicals in test tubes in lab

This bacteria "eats" carbon emissions and makes useful chemicals

Scientists at LanzaTech in Illinois have engineered some exciting new bacteria that actually transform carbon dioxide into ethanol and isopropanol, compounds used in paint remover and hand sanitizer. Michael Köpke and his colleagues went on a hunt for strains of the ethanol-producing bacterium, Read More...

Beauty giant to make perfumes

Beauty giant to make perfumes with ethanol made of recycled CO2 emissions

The world’s largest fragrance company, Coty, will soon start making perfumes with alcohol made from recycled carbon emissions. Producing the fragrance lines for luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Calvin Klein, Coty has recently partnered with biotech company LanzaTech to use its Read More...

Scientists discover way to con

Scientists discover way to convert captured carbon into a useful commodity

Capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide may be an efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, but there’s something unsatisfying about this process. The gas is simply captured, compressed, and then buried deep underground. Unsatisfied with this method, a team of Read More...

After oil

After oil

Unfamiliar crops like switchgrass and jatropha hold more promise as alternative fuels than corn and sugarcane Craig Cox| July/Aug 2007 issue It seemed like a marriage made in heaven. Corn farmers, suffering under some of the lowest commodity prices in history, hooked up with environmentalists Read More...