From left: **Kendra Kuhl**, **Nicholas Flanders**, and **Etosha Cave**, founders of Bay Area startup Twelve [Photo: Courtesy Twelve]

Twelve is pioneering a new market category called carbon transformation with its proprietary catalyst technology

Twelve makes the same compounds out of captured CO2

In the Bay Area, a startup called Twelve is developing technology that makes some of the same chemicals from captured CO2 instead of crude oil, gas, or coal. Manufacturers can use CO2-based chemicals in the same way that they used petrochemicals. “They’ll be identical to conventional products [but] made from recycled emissions,” says Nicholas Flanders, co-founder, and CEO.

The company is one of the first to commercialize a process called artificial photosynthesis. Inspired by the way plants turn CO2, water, and sunlight into carbon, the company uses renewable electricity and water to make carbon from CO2. That carbon can be turned into products like ethylene, a basic ingredient in making plastic.

“Basically, we use electricity to break apart CO2 and water,” Flanders says. “And then our catalysts, which are part of our core technology, recombine those atomic bits to make new molecules.”

Carbon transformation reduces emissions from supply chains, closes the carbon loop, and provides a viable pathway to a fossil-free future, in which the products that drive the global economy are made from CO2 rather than fossil fuels. Replacing fossil feedstocks with CO2 in Twelve’s target applications could address nearly 10 percent of global carbon emissions.

The company is currently partnering with automotive, household, apparel industry, and other brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Procter & Gamble, and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to leverage Twelve’s breakthrough carbon transformation technology to reduce emissions by creating CO2Made© products and fuels.

Last year, the company worked with Mercedes-Benz to make the first-ever auto part from recycled CO2. “What’s interesting is a new car contains about 300 kilograms of polymers and pretty much all of those we can make from CO2,” Flanders says. “That’s going to be true even for an electric car.” Twelve is also working with Proctor & Gamble on CO2-made ingredients for Tide laundry detergent. Many companies are thinking about how to use fewer petrochemicals to lower their carbon footprints; the consumer goods giant Unilever, for example, has committed to phasing out petrochemicals in cleaning products by the end of the decade.

“Backing from this group of high-caliber investors allows us to build out our team and expand our partnerships to give businesses a tool to reduce emissions in their existing supply chains, and consumers the opportunity to make a real climate impact with their purchasing decisions without compromising on the quality of products they love. Carbon transformation is the new business transformation,” Flanders says.

“Nearly all products and systems we rely on daily use carbon as a resource, from what we wear, to how we live and how we move. Carbon is not the enemy; the problem is that using carbon from fossil fuels is causing global warming. By sourcing carbon from waste CO2, rather than from fossil fuels, we can reverse emissions while making useful products that drive our global economy,” Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Kendra Kuhl says.
“We’re not going to get rid of carbon-based materials,” Flanders says. “They’re all around us. But we can get that carbon in a better way. You don’t need to use fossil carbon to get it.”

Twelve is currently taking pre-orders for its industrial-scale carbon transformation module. Additional information on the process, product and partnerships, and opportunities to join Twelve’s growing team, can be found at www.twelve.co.

Sources: