Newlight Technologies and Long Ridge Energy Terminal to build Aircarbon-Ohio

In California, Newlight Technologies, Inc. and Long Ridge Energy Terminal, which is jointly owned by a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC and an affiliate managed by GCM Grosvenor, 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.

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 25% of the project costs, or up to $75 million, subject to certain conditions, to participate in the economic returns associated with the project.