Vodka doesn't grow on trees...

Anything about distilling ya read in news.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
ShineonCrazyDiamond
Global moderator
Posts: 3433
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 6:14 pm
Location: Look Up

Vodka doesn't grow on trees...

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

But you can apparently pull it from thin air!

https://amp.theguardian.com/food/2021/o ... ble-spirit

I am at the point I can't see science through the marketing anymore :crazy:
"Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond."
tiramisu
Swill Maker
Posts: 489
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:03 pm

Re: Vodka doesn't grow on trees...

Post by tiramisu »

User avatar
still_stirrin
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10337
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:01 am
Location: where the buffalo roam, and the deer & antelope play

Re: Vodka doesn't grow on trees...

Post by still_stirrin »

SoCD, I just wonder how much energy is needed to separate the carbon from the CO2 molecules to make ethanol. I bet it is a lot. And the production of the electricity is far from a “green science”. Fossil fuel emissions themselves produce CO2.

It just seems like nature has a way of balancing things, including how to make alcohol. Yeasts, cultured and wild, are a natural “gift from God”. It’s been the practice for hundreds of years.

A better approach would be to “plant a tree”, perhaps even a fruit tree. :clap:
ss
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
User avatar
Saltbush Bill
Site Mod
Posts: 9675
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:13 am
Location: Northern NSW Australia

Re: Vodka doesn't grow on trees...

Post by Saltbush Bill »

SS you cant let facts like that get in the way of a good marketing story. :lol:
User avatar
Kindafrench
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:05 am

Re: Vodka doesn't grow on trees...

Post by Kindafrench »

Where does the co2 go, after you had a drink of that vodka? Back to nature it goes, so it's not removing any co2 from the environment at all. Marketing is blinding so many people. Seems that less and less people just trust in miracle stories without doing any research on their own.
User avatar
contrahead
Trainee
Posts: 909
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:43 pm
Location: Southwest

Re: Vodka doesn't grow on trees...

Post by contrahead »

'Tiramisu' links to a Popular Mechanics article that says that Argonne National Laboratory and Tao Xu (who is also a Northern Illinois Univ professor) created a new catalyst that can turn carbon dioxide into ethanol.

But if you read 'The Guardian's' article that 'ShineonGrazyDiamond' first linked to, then there is another link that sends you to https://aircompany.com/. On the first page of their website the 'Air Company' boast that they alone are responsible for the breakthrough; Quote: “We invented a carbon conversion technology that transforms carbon dioxide (CO2) into impurity-free alcohols”.

Last year there was a brewery named BrewDog that claimed to be the first carbon negative beer company, and a distillery (Two Drifters) that claims to be the world’s first carbon-negative distillery. These people though are just using electric delivery trucks and electrically heated stills to add and subtract their “carbon credits”.

The 'Air Company's' gimmick and advertising investment is also pandering to the new green carbon footprint mentality. They buy their CO2 from the open market but produce the extra hydrogen needed themselves, using electrolysis. The Air Company explains some of their process, but remains secretive about their patented catalyst; which we can deduce from 'tiramisu's link - is likely some variation of “atomically dispersed copper on a carbon-powder support”. Their website also says that the liquid produced is a mixture of methanol, water and ethanol. They don't consider methanol to be an impurity, or bother to explain what they do with it; but it seems likely that if they had enough quantity, they could sell it to another industry that might turn it into formaldehyde or acetic acid.

Initial success all depends on the whims of the Millennial generation. But if it is an expensive way to produce vodka in the long run, it won't be a sustainable business.
Omnia mea mecum porto
Post Reply