Carbon Sciences, Inc. (CABN), the developer of a breakthrough technology to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into gasoline and other portable fuels, announced the development of certain process technologies that will allow for the production of gasoline, shorten the time to commercialization and reduce the system and operating costs of its CO2-to-Fuel technology.

The company’s current approach is an enzyme-based process used to transform CO2 into low-level fuels, such as methanol. Dr. Naveed Aslam, chief technology officer of Carbon Sciences, has now discovered a new and more cost efficient process to produce gasoline, a high-level fuel, from CO2. The key features of this breakthrough includes (1) the of use flue emissions directly from coal-fired power plants or industrial factories, eliminating the need for “clean” CO2, (2) the use of brackish water, eliminating the need for distilled freshwater as the source of hydrogen and reaction medium, (3) mild operating conditions, eliminating the need for capital intensive stainless steel equipment, and (4) a highly scalable system to transform large quantities of CO2 into gasoline for use in the existing transportation infrastructure.

Elaborating on the business implications of this new breakthrough, Byron Elton, CEO of Carbon Sciences, said, “We always wanted to produce high-level fuels, such as gasoline, but knew that additional steps would be required to reach this goal. Now, we have the way to go directly to gasoline.” Mr. Elton commented further, “The United Nations’ IPCC estimates that the cost of simply capturing CO2 for applications, such as underground sequestration or transformation into products, can range from $45 to $73 per ton of CO2. This cost is perhaps the single biggest economic barrier to any large-scale CO2 applications, such as carbon sequestration. However, by being able to use a raw CO2 flue gas stream in our CO2-to-Fuel technology, we are no longer dependent on the success or commercial availability of carbon capture systems. In addition, unlike biofuels based on growing plants to absorb CO2 from the air, our CO2-to-Fuel process is an industrial process that can produce fuel in minutes to hours, not months to years, to meet the demands of the world. These breakthroughs demonstrate why we continue to believe that Carbon Sciences is developing the most powerful and sustainable fuel technology in the world.”

Commenting on the development roadmap, Dr. Aslam stated, “We are very excited about these new processes. Our end-to-end CO2 to fuel system will have several modules. We have determined that one of these modules can function as a standalone system for use by a sizable part of the energy industry for the production of gasoline. Inquiries from potential strategic partners have further validated our decision to focus on this module. We are anticipating a shorter than normal development cycle for this module and are hoping to achieve commercialization in less than one year.”

www.carbonsciences.com

Two of the country’s leading flooring manufacturers, Altro and Polyflor, have launched the UK’s first vinyl flooring recycling take-back scheme.

The new industry-funded Recofloor scheme will increase the recycling of waste vinyl flooring in the UK. Through the scheme, safety flooring offcuts and smooth vinyl offcuts from the installation process will be recycled back into new flooring. Uplifted, or end-of-life material, will be used in the manufacture of traffic calming products, such as traffic cone and road barrier bases.

Axion Consulting is the agent for the Recofloor scheme, which has developed from a WRAP-funded (Waste & Resources Action Programme) trial to increase the collection and recycling of vinyl flooring.

As a free-standing industry scheme, the target now is to create a sustainable, cost-effective and efficient collection system. Waste flooring is accepted from all types of sources, from individual contractors to large construction projects.  Axion’s role involves co-ordinating and managing Recofloor collection systems.

Registered Recofloor participants will be provided with bulk bags which can be collected from site when filled with vinyl flooring, or they can drop off waste at one of 19 designated sites across the UK. Recofloor is keen to increase the number of drop-off sites across the UK and to recruit distributors to provide a drop-off point for vinyl flooring waste.

Recofloor Project Manager Jane Gardner, of Axion Consulting, said both manufacturers have invested a lot of time and cost into developing internal recycling processes for vinyl flooring and they feel the time is right to set up an industry collection scheme.

“We are very pleased that Altro and Polyflor, as founder

members of Recofloor, have made this huge commitment to the sustainability of vinyl flooring. It is a major achievement and an important step for the industry,” she says.

“Increasingly customers are keen to see their end-of-life flooring recycled. Recofloor participants benefit from compliance with Site Waste Management legislation and receive a ‘certificate of commitment’ to recycling. Providing their ‘green’ credentials can help them gain new contracts,” adds Jane.

According to Polyflor, its products have on average 25% recycled content. “This is great considering the vast number of ranges available and the volumes which are produced,” says Environmental Market Manager Sonia Baker. “In 2008, Polyflor manufactured and sold around 20 million square metres of vinyl flooring, with 12,005 tonnes of post industrial waste and 736 tonnes of post consumer waste being recycled back into new product. Through Recofloor, we are aiming to increase the amount of post consumer waste that is recycled back into our flooring, across all ranges.”

Richard Kahn, Chief Executive of Altro, comments: “At Altro, responsibility is at the heart of everything we do.  We constantly look at ways to reduce our environmental impact in both production processes and how the organisation is run. Thanks to the installation of the world’s first in-house safety flooring recycling system we have not sent any waste PVC to landfill since mid 2007, and now recycle 100% of our factory waste PVC.”

“The Recofloor scheme is the latest breakthrough in our recycling programme. Not only will this allow us to increase the amount of recycled content in our safety flooring products, it will also reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, lower operating costs and offer contractors a tangible competitive advantage when tendering for projects.”

For more information, contact Axion ‘s Recofloor team on +44 161 355 7618

http://www.axionconsulting.co.uk/