VOA慢速英语2021--再生碳制品市场增长

Market Grows for Products Made With Recycled Carbon

Diamonds, sunglasses and sports clothing can be made using carbon dioxide, or CO2, one of the major gases causing the Earth's atmosphere to warm.

Young technology companies making such manufacturing possible are getting attention from investors¹.

Some manufacturing methods use bacteria. Others use proteins. Some use chemical processes to speed natural reactions. Most separate the carbon and oxygen in CO2 to create another chemical that is used to make popular products.

It is estimated that these companies have raised over $800 million so far this year. That is more than three times their 2020 total, reports Reuters. The news agency examined data from research companies PitchBook, Circular Carbon Network, Cleantech Group and Climate Tech VC.

"I don't want to call it a green tax, but our consumers who really do care...have demonstrated that they're willing to pay a bit of a premium²," said Ryan Shearman. He is chief of Aether Diamonds, which uses captured CO2 to manufacture diamonds.

Another use of recycled carbon is less shiny but still strong: concrete. CarbonCure Technologies is developing a method that injects CO2 into fresh concrete. The trapped carbon strengthens the concrete and keeps the gas out of the air.

Robin³ Niven leads the company. He said the word "green" is good for marketing⁴ products.

"About 90 percent of our uptake has been from independent concrete producers large and small that are just looking for that competitive edge."

UN aims to reduce CO2 emissions⁵

The United Nations says countries need to capture and store 10 billion tonnes of CO2 every year by 2050 to slow climate change. Current carbon capture programs, however, can only store thousands of tonnes.

Humans produce heat trapping gases equal to around 50 billion tonnes of CO2 each year. International officials will gather in Scotland in late October and November for a U.N. climate conference on cutting gas emissions, or releases.

In May, Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy released a report on CO2 recycling. The report said that, if all products made from oil used recycled CO2 instead, it would result in about 6.8 billion fewer tonnes of carbon emissions.

Amar Bhardwaj was the lead writer. He said CO2 recycling is not always the best choice. He said that trying to reduce carbon emission⁶ only with recycling "would be a misuse⁷ of CO2 recycling," because there are less costly⁸ methods.

Nicholas Flanders is a co-founder of a company called Twelve. It uses chemical processes to reuse CO2. Flanders said recycling is better than storing captured CO2 underground. "We're developing a technology that can go toe to toe with fossil fuels," he said. He added that his company can remove carbon without seeking financial support from the government.

That is because many consumers are interested in the "green" message of carbon recycling.

Clothing company lululemon athletica says it has created a polyester material from carbon emissions jointly⁹ with LanzaTech. That company uses bacteria to recycle ethanol, a kind of alcohol, into ethylene. Ethylene is used to make polyester cloth and plastic containers.

LanzaTech has raised the most money of the companies competing in the field, the Reuters examination found.

CEO Jennifer Holmgren said LanzaTech's ethanol costs more than ethanol made from corn, but people who want green products are buying anyway.

The biggest investment in the new market this year, more than $350 million, went to Solugen, a company based in Houston, Texas. Solugen feeds CO2 and other things to enzymes¹⁰ that make chemicals for stronger cement, water pipe coatings and other products.

Its products already cost less than those made from fossil fuels, said Solugen chief Gaurab Chakrabarti. The company does not get its CO2 from factory emissions or from the air. However, Chakrabarti does describe this as "an option."

Capturing CO2 does not seem like a good idea to investors, who think the government should be responsible for such high-cost, high-risk projects.

However, Nicholas Moore Eisenberger, of investment group Pure Energy Partners, thinks differently. He invested in direct air capture company Global Thermostat¹¹. He said he sees opportunity in necessity. He believes that once the projects grow enough, costs will fall.

"The science tells us that we have under a decade to start to bend the curve on climate, and that is now within the investment time frame" of most private investors Eisenberger said.

Words in This Story

green –adj. concerned with protecting the environment (from the color green)

consumer –n. a person who buys goods and services

premium –n. a price that is higher than the regular or normal price

recycle –v. to make something new from (something that has been used before)

toe to toe –idiom to compete against someone

fossil fuels –n.(pl.) fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) which are formed in the Earth from dead plant and animal matter

option –n. something that can be chosen; a choice or possibility

opportunity –n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done; a chance

decade –n. 10 years

time frame –n. a period of time that is used or planned for a particular action or project

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

3 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

4 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

7 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

10 enzymes   

n. 酶，酵素

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。

11 thermostat   

n.恒温器

参考例句：

• The thermostat is connected by a link to the carburetor.恒温控制器是由一根连杆与汽化器相连的。
• The temperature is controlled by electronic thermostat with high accuracy.电子恒温器，准确性高。