Black pigment solutions are often derived from petroleum-based sources like crude oil, natural gas or coal. Each year, 8.1 million tonnes of carbon black are produced globally, but its excessive use has been correlated with organ harm and cancer (it’s a Group 2B carcinogen, making it possibly carcinogenic to humans).

Another black colourant, iron oxide, is obtained through mining or chemical synthesis, which leads to soil erosion, habitat loss and biodiversity decline. Mining can also pollute water and air by releasing harmful pollutants, while consuming high amounts of energy that subsequently emit more greenhouse gases.

Algae Black makes use of waste algae biomass that is otherwise destined for landfill. Featuring a 100% renewable raw material, it is produced through a pyrolysis process, which burns it without using oxygen. That prevents the carbon stored by the algae from turning into carbon dioxide, instead forming a char that serves as a pigment. And to achieve substantial carbon cuts, large-scale production and utilisation of the pigment are vital.

While traditional production methods emit about 4kg of CO2 per kg of carbon black. Algae Black, however, has the opposite effect, decreasing carbon emissions by 200%. “For every litre of Algae Black, we remove four litres of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Bowker explained. “It’s bonkers.”

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here