For companies around the world and across industries, sustainability(可持续发展) has rapidly gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have. Some famous companies have announced ambitious plans to remove single-use plastics, reduce carbon release and otherwise shrink their environmental footprint in various ways.
Newlight Technologies hopes to speed up that process. The company has spent more than a decade developing a material called AirCarbon, which functions exactly like plastic but is completely biodegradable(可生物降解的). Newlight developed the material using microorganisms found in the ocean that feed on methane and carbon dioxide-two-greenhouse gases among the biggest contributors to climate change. The organisms turn those gases into a natural polymer(聚合物) that can be shaped just like plastic.
“We call that AirCarbon because it's air and carbon that can mix with and become part of water,” CEO Mark Herrema said. “We have this pure white powder that we can then melt and form in all kinds of parts and pieces.” The company's new production facility is filled with large saltwater tanks that recreate ocean conditions, allowing the organisms to make the polymer from which AirCarbon can be obtained.
Newlight recently began rolling out its first set of products made from the material, launching two-brands. Its foodware brand, Restore, sells biodegradable straws, knives, forks and spoons, while its fashion brand Covalent sells handbags, wallets and sunglasses. And because the process of developing AirCarbon uses gases from the atmosphere, the products are carbon negative, meaning they take out more pollutants than they produce. Newlight has received carbon negative certifications from several organizations for its products.
Newlight’s current products are costlier than some traditional products available on the market, since the company has just one facility, which makes it hard to keep prices down. At present, Newlight’s AirCarbon products can remove 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year. But Herrema's goal is to build more facilities as quickly as possible and eventually increase that number to 20 billion pounds, which he says is how much plastic ends up in the ocean each year.
【小题1】What is the advantage of AirCarbon?| A．It is more flexible than plastic. |
| B．It can partially break down. |
| C．It helps reduce greenhouse gases. |
| D．It is an artificial polymer like plastic. |
| A．Its products are of good quality. |
| B．Its products are energy-saving. |
| C．It develops two sustainable brands. |
| D．It removes more carbon than it releases. |
| A．Limited production. | B．Low profits. |
| C．Few customers. | D．Poor marketing. |
| A．New technology that reduces carbon release. |
| B．Greenhouse gases that can be used for products. |
| C．Ocean microorganisms that feed on greenhouse gases. |
| D．A plastic alternative that might help solve climate change. |
