Newlight and Long Ridge Sign Agreement to Build Aircarbon Production Facility in Ohio
Newlight Technologies and Long Ridge Energy Terminal have signed agreements to construct the Aircarbon-Ohio facility in Ohio, aimed at producing Aircarbon, a carbon-negative biomaterial that can replace plastic. Long Ridge will lease land and supply power for the project, with Fortress Transportation (FTAI) investing up to $75 million for a 25% stake. The facility will utilize methane captured from local industrial activities to support production. This initiative seeks to tackle plastic pollution and create jobs, establishing a significant carbon capture hub.
- FTAI to invest up to $75 million, securing a 25% stake in the project.
- Creation of jobs and economic value in Ohio through the new facility.
- Focus on producing a carbon-negative alternative to plastic, addressing environmental concerns.
- None.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Newlight Technologies, Inc. ("Newlight") and Long Ridge Energy Terminal ("Long Ridge"), which is jointly owned by a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC (NASDAQ: FTAI) and an affiliate managed by GCM Grosvenor (NASDAQ: GCMG), today announced that the parties and their related entities have entered into various agreements providing for the construction and operation of a new facility in Ohio, Aircarbon-Ohio, to produce Aircarbon, a naturally-occurring molecule called PHB that replaces plastic but is carbon-negative and biologically degrades in natural environments.
"Plastic pollution and climate change are the critical environmental challenges of our time, but in order to solve those challenges, we need to find a scalable middle ground of performance and sustainability," said Newlight CEO Mark Herrema. "Through Aircarbon-Ohio, our aim is to establish one of the largest carbon capture manufacturing hubs in the world, showing that we can harness greenhouse gas as a resource to help improve the environment while creating long-term jobs and economic value."
Newlight uses a nature-based technology that is found in ecosystems throughout the world, including in the ocean, wherein naturally-occurring microorganisms consume air and greenhouse gas through fermentation to produce a muscle-like material inside of their cells called PHB. PHB is an energy storage material made in most living organisms, from marine microorganisms to the roots of plants and the human body, and can be melted into shapes as a replacement for plastic. Founded in 2003, Newlight is the first company to directly transform greenhouse gases into PHB, a biomaterial that the company calls Aircarbon, at commercial scale.
AirCarbon competes on performance with various grades of polypropylene, the second largest-volume plastic in the world. With a variety of potential industries to serve, Newlight's primary focus is on addressing ocean plastic pollution by displacing plastic in the foodware market, starting with straws, cutlery, and coated paper products. In addition to foodware, Newlight is also seeding expansion in automotive and fashion applications. Newlight launched its first commercial-scale Aircarbon production facility in 2020, and today Newlight's customers and partners include Shake Shack, Nike, Target, H&M, Ben & Jerry's, Sumitomo, US Foods, and Sysco, with millions of Aircarbon units delivered to consumers to date.
Long Ridge and certain of its subsidiaries entered into certain agreements with Newlight, whereby Long Ridge will lease land and sell power and gas to Newlight. In addition, a subsidiary of FTAI has agreed to invest
Through a separate agreement between Newlight and Pittsburgh-based CNX Resources Corp., CNX will gather and process captured methane from third party industrial activity that would typically be vented to atmosphere and deliver to Newlight the environmental rights associated with that methane, sourced locally from the Appalachian basin, to support production of Aircarbon at the Ohio facility, similar to how solar and wind is delivered contractually through new and existing grid infrastructure.
Newlight is a nature-inspired biotechnology company converting air and greenhouse gas into a biomaterial called Aircarbon®. Aircarbon is a high-performance, carbon-negative PHB biomaterial produced by naturally-occurring microorganisms that is being used to replace plastic in industrial segments ranging from foodware to fashion. Newlight's mission is to help end plastic pollution and climate change by replacing plastic with Aircarbon, creating global-scale economic and environmental value. For more information about Newlight and Aircarbon, visit www.aircarbon.com.
The Long Ridge Energy Terminal, located in Hannibal, Ohio, commissioned a state-of-the-art 485MW power plant in October 2021, the first GE H-class plant worldwide to blend hydrogen into its fuel mix. Long Ridge is focused on delivering low-carbon, reliable, and cost-effective energy to its customers. The site's attributes include nearly 300 acres of flat land, two barge docks on the Ohio River, a unit-train-capable loop track and direct access to Ohio Route 7. Long Ridge is jointly owned by a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC, which trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker FTAI, and an affiliate managed by Grosvenor Capital Management, L.P., which trades on the NASDAQ Exchange under the ticker GCMG. For more information on Long Ridge, please visit www.longridgeenergy.com.
Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC owns and acquires high quality infrastructure and equipment that is essential for the transportation of goods and people globally. FTAI targets assets that, on a combined basis, generate strong and stable cash flows with the potential for earnings growth and asset appreciation. FTAI is externally managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, a leading, diversified global investment firm. For more information, please visit www.ftandi.com.
GCM Grosvenor (Nasdaq: GCMG) is a global alternative asset management solutions provider with approximately
GCM Grosvenor's Labor Impact Strategy seeks to originate and execute infrastructure projects that leverage the inclusion of union labor as a contributing factor to enabling attractive risk-adjusted returns. The goal of the strategy is to find attractive infrastructure investment opportunities that can be unlocked through close cooperation across labor, government, and private capital.
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SOURCE Newlight Technologies
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