---
title: "This Guy Is Creating Actual Diamonds From Reclaimed CO2"
description: "A british company is manufacturing diamonds out of atmospheric CO2 and rainwater in an attempt to reverse environmental damage."
date: "2020-10-30"
modified: "2020-10-30"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/creating-diamonds-reclaimed-co2"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Carbon Capture"
  - "diamond"
  - "the digest"
---

# This Guy Is Creating Actual Diamonds From Reclaimed CO2

![A british company is manufacturing diamonds out of atmospheric CO2 and rainwater in an attempt to reverse environmental damage.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/creating-giant-diamonds-reclaimed-co2.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## They're Forever

Coming soon: carbon-negative diamonds made from nothing but atmospheric CO2 and rainwater.

A British clean energy company called Ecotricity, founded by environmentalist Dale Vince, [told *The Guardian*](<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/30/ecotricity-founder-to-grow-diamonds-made-entirely-from-the-sky>) that it plans to clean up the diamond industry, which has devastating effects on the environment — and has a whole [lot of blood](<https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/26/world/africa/blood-diamonds/index.html>) on its hands. The plan, Vince says, is to suck greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere and use it to create a more ethical version of the gemstone.

## Reversing Course

To get just one carat — 0.2 grams — of a [traditional diamond](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-entire-planets-diamonds>), according to *The Guardian*, miners could excavate up to 2.2 million pounds of rock, use 1,028 gallons of water, and emit 238 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, *The Guardian* reports.

Ecotricity hopes to reverse that environmental destruction by taking carbon out of the atmosphere, producing methane — a crucial ingredient in synthesizing diamonds — by taking hydrogen molecules out of rainwater, and powering the whole operation with wind and solar energy.

## Malchemy

The resulting diamond is identical to one pulled out of the ground — and Vince says Ecotricity is already capable of making about 200 carats every month.

"Making diamonds from nothing more than the sky, from the air we breathe — is a magical, evocative idea — it’s modern alchemy," Vince told *The Guardian*. "We don’t need to mine the earth to have diamonds, we can mine the sky."

**READ MORE:** [Ecotricity founder to grow diamonds 'made entirely from the sky'](<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/30/ecotricity-founder-to-grow-diamonds-made-entirely-from-the-sky>) \[*The Guardian*\]

**More on diamonds:** *[Diamond Batteries Made of Nuclear Waste Can Generate Power For Thousands of Years](<https://futurism.com/diamond-batteries-made-of-nuclear-waste-can-generate-power-for-thousands-of-years>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)