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The Fuel Startup Betting a Molecule Can Just Float Out of the Tank
Most biofuels get stuck in the same trap: make the alcohol, then spend a fortune pulling it out of the water. A four-person Houston team engineered a yeast whose product simply volatilizes away - and they think that changes the math.
Nicholas Flanders
Nicholas Flanders is the Co-Founder and CEO of Twelve, a carbon transformation company that converts CO2, water, and renewable electricity into sustainable aviation fuel and carbon-neutral chemicals. A Stanford MBA and former McKinsey consultant, Flanders co-founded Twelve (originally Opus 12) in 2015 alongside scientists Dr. Etosha Cave and Dr. Kendra Kuhl to commercialize breakthrough electrochemical CO2 conversion technology developed at Stanford. The company has raised over $790 million, including a $645 million financing round in 2024 led by TPG Rise Climate, and is building AirPlant One - the world's first commercial-scale e-fuels facility - in Moses Lake, Washington.