Reverse-engineering climate change
Liquid Sun is a carbon binding company that originated as a spinoff from Tampere University and Stanford University.
We began working with Liquid Sun when they were still in their very early phase. They had a small team, a lab in Tampere, a prototype that looked right even if it was not fully operational, and a great idea backed by IP on paper.
What they did not have, for instance was a defined 1st avenue for the implementation of the idea. The IP was quite open-ended and could be applied to variety of applications.
Our first task was to turn this broad idea into a concrete narrative that investors could understand and support. This narrative became the basis for the film shown here. The field of possible applications was still wide open.
Our job was to take a technically complex idea and turn it into a simple, understandable and compelling story. In other words link the engineers brilliant thinking into this world. The result was effective and served its purpose. Liquid Sun secured eight million euros in total funding. They chose aviation as their first application area to pursue.
Today, they have an industrial-scale proof of concept underway with Finnair, Fortum, ABB and Finavia. Aviation is a strong choice. The world has a rising quota for sustainable aviation fuel additives, known as eSAF. The current requirement is low, but it is increasing quickly, and global production is not meeting the need. There is more demand than supply.
Liquid Sun’s technology addresses that gap. They take water, captured carbon dioxide and electricity, and rebind these inputs into carbon monoxide. This carbon monoxide can then be refined into eSAF, as well as other valuable applications. In its simplest form, the process turns captured carbon back into usable material through clean energy.
We have been fortunate to work with Liquid Sun at the exact stage where creative work has the most leverage. When a company has technology, ambition, and potential, but the articulation is still forming, the role of narrative, identity and visual clarity is decisive. Without form, the idea does not become real.
In this type of work, articulation, story and craft are not cosmetic additions. They shape how people understand technology and how they believe in it. The clearer the meaning, the more tangible the company becomes. We want to bring this way of thinking to as many companies as possible to strengthen the economy around us and help new ideas move with more agility.