This Perfume Is The World’s First Made From Air, Using ‘Photosynthesized’ CO2
Image courtesy of Air Company
In perfumes, the main ingredient used is often ethanol. This is gleaned from fermenting and distilling a grain, which requires the crop and all its resources: large amounts of water, land, and emissions from fuel and fertilizers, to name a few.
Air Company has reworked this process to produce ethanol that doesn’t require any of this.
Instead, it’s deemed carbon-negative, one step further than carbon-neutral. This is because it takes existing carbon dioxide as the main ingredient in its proprietary ethanol, removing it from our Earth’s atmosphere.
Fast Company reports that the startup sources CO2 from nearby facilities that make ethanol traditionally, before combining it with hydrogen. This unique technology is said to mimic photosynthesis, using carbon dioxide from the air and naturally occurring solar energy to produce the solution. Everything runs on renewable electricity.
Apart from the eau de parfum, which is its third product, Air Company has also used the same CO2-conversion technology to make vodka, followed by a hand sanitizer at the beginning of the pandemic.
“Our concept was inspired by rethinking how we interact with fragrance,” says Gregory Constantine, co-founder and CEO of Air Company, in a press release.
“We innovated every aspect of the sensorial experience to offer a scent with elegant packaging to demonstrate what is possible for the future in sustainable innovation. The scent was inspired by the elements: air, water and sun. After a year of time spent indoors during the pandemic, we wanted to help people feel reconnected with nature.”
Air Eau de Parfum carries a scent that is “uniquely fresh and citrusy,” with fig leaf and orange peel as top notes, and heart notes of jasmine, violet and sweetwater. Finally, musk and tobacco make up its base notes.
As of Wednesday, Air Eau de Parfum is available for pre-order, retailing for US$220 for a 50ml bottle. Orders will ship at the beginning of next year. Although it’s currently being produced in a limited run, the company is hoping to use it as an example of “what could be” for the future of CO2 reduction.
[via Fast Company, cover image courtesy of Air Company]
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