December 13, 2007 3:58 AM PST
The honey-colored goo pictured here is the basis of different biodegradeable plastics. Novomer is a biotech company spun out earlier this year from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Using a catalyst developed at Cornell, the company can make biodegradable plastics from the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. One of its possible paths to market is to build a plastics facility on the same location as a heavy polluter, such as a cement factory, which will supply the carbon dioxide.
Photo by Novomer
