[imagesource: Jeff Moore]

Diamonds are commonly seen as symbols of love and commitment, but historically, for many people in diamond-rich countries, mines produced not only carbon-based rocks, but also civil wars, violence, worker exploitation, environmental degradation, and unspeakable human suffering.

British multi-millionaire and environmentalist Dale Vince has set out to create the world’s first “zero impact” diamond that would not only eliminate the effects of diamond mining but, in a genius move, actually help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Lab-grown diamonds are already rising in popularity due to increased awareness of the environmental and socio-economic impact of mining.

Research has shown that producing a one-carat stone can involve moving 1 000 tonnes of rock and earth, 3 890 litres of water, and more than 108 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions.

Vince, the owner of green energy supplier Ecotricity, told The Guardian that he has created a machine that will take it a step further.

“Making diamonds from nothing more than the sky, from the air we breathe – is a magical, evocative idea – it’s modern alchemy,” said Vince. “We don’t need to mine the earth to have diamonds, we can mine the sky.”

Vince uses wind and solar electricity to capture carbon dioxide from the air at a “sky mining facility”.

This process typically involves placing a “diamond seed” within a sealed chamber, or “diamond mill”, which is heated to 800C and filled with carbon-rich methane gas. The carbon elements will gradually bond with the “seed” to create a diamond anatomically identical to a stone that has taken billions of years to grow underground.

Image: Sky Diamonds

Vince expects his new venture, Sky Diamonds, to produce 200 carats of the carbon-negative diamonds every month but said the facility could scale up to create 1,000 a month within the next year.

He has promised to source the carbon dioxide directly from the air, and will produce the methane that he needs by splitting rainwater molecules using an electrolysis machine powered by a renewable energy source.

Once he had the idea, he says, it was full steam ahead.

It’s rare to come across an inventor with this much imagination and the chops to manifest his ideas in reality.

Good luck to him.

[source:guardian]