Dubbed the “shoe without a footprint,” NRG Energy has debuted a new sneaker prototype made from the gaseous waste emitted by power plants.
Created to demonstrate the potential of the NRG-sponsored Carbon XPrize Competition, the prototype was made by 10xbeta, a product management firm that captured and cooled power plant effluent, and then separated out the CO2, which was then used to create the polymer that accounts for 75% of the shoes’ makeup.
According to 10xbeta, the remaining 25% of materials aren’t made of recycled CO2 foam, but the emissions released during their production could be captured via the same processes.
As of now, NRG has no plans to manufacture the shoes for public sale, but the company hopes the example can inform similar projects in the competition that will actually make it to market.
You can read more about NRG’s CO2 shoes at Business Insider.
