Skyonic

A. The main facts about the activities of the company.

Skyonic is Technology Company whose mission is to combat rising CO2 gas levels in a safe and effective manner. Skyonic is achieving this with several of their patents, one of which, captures carbon emissions to convert them into useful solid chemicals that can be used by humans, such as baking soda, bleach or Sodium bicarbonate which can be used to make certain plastics, glass, paper or paints and paper.

Most greenhouse gases (GHG) that are “disposed” of are simply mined into the ground through pumps, which can be dangerous for humans and the environment. Not to mention the process of creating pipelines is incredibly costly and risky. By converting these gases into solids that can be used, Skyonic’s SkyMine® technology, for instance, is essentially “recycling” these harmful gases in both an environmentally safe and socially beneficial manner.

Skyonic has developed three primary technologies called, SkyMine®, SkyScraper™, and SkyCycle™ and is in the process of patenting around 100 different technologies. These technologies are reducing the environmental of power plants, and industrial manufacturing plants such as steel mills and refineries that we rely on. To top it all off, Skyonic’s technologies provide incentives for these businesses by offering an additional revenue source in these new solid products and thus compels companies to adapt these technologies.

Skyonic is helping to combat climate change and environmental destruction by literally turning something harmful and bad into something useful and good in an incentivizing and cost effective manner. Skyonic is creating real change, for instance in one facility, in San Antonio, Texas, the company has, “reduce[ed] an existing cement plant’s overall carbon emissions by 15 percent – that’s 75,000 tons of CO2 annually. That’s like removing 62,000 cars from packed Texas highways completely,” (www.skyonic.com). Skyonic has also been supported by grants and funding by both private venture capital firms and the US Department of Energy.

B. The Ethical challenges this company is addressing.

Businesses constantly face ethical issues pertaining to the environment and its sustainability. Skyonic, a company committed to these issues, was established in an effort to challenge and improve many of the existing standards used by large manufacturing and power corporations whose harmful CO2 and GHG emissions contribute to climate change and destruction. However, Skyonic has taken a different approach to this problem that can be construed as controversial to some. Skyonic is not in the business of alternative fossil fuels, rather, the company is committed to reforming and reducing the impact of existing pollutants like CO2. In this sense, Skyonic deals with the “necessary evil” of toxic waste for power plants rather than advocating for an alternative model.

Given that the scientific community widely regards a 2 degrees Centigrade or 3.6 Fahrenheit rise in global warming as the threshold that would place the future of humanity and the world itself in grave danger, one can argue that Skyonic’s measures are simply insufficient. The existing methods we are using are depleting natural resources at an exponential rate. If we were to completely eliminate greenhouse gasses that cause global warming we would likely still be in danger due to the past destruction humans have caused. Moreover, Skyonic’s technology has little to no effect on emissions via livestock and agriculture production, which accounts for a whopping 51% of GHG emissions.

Skyonic’s decision to patent its technology as a strategic business move may make it more profitable but has profound effects ethically speaking. By solely controlling the technology, they limit its expansion and thus, its benefits. If Skyonic wanted to have a wider effect and produce more effective change, they might release this technology widely in order to allow for others to adapt it more readily.

Nevertheless, Skyonic is working diligently in the space they occupy to create real and lasting change. By choosing to patent their technology, they are able to remain and viable business and to grow and produce more beneficial technologies in the future. Until humans decide to stop using fossil fuels all together, Skyonic provides a pragmatic solution towards reducing its harms. Skyonic challenges the paradigm around fossil fuels while vastly improving the environment in a measurable way.

C. What makes you believe this company is really ethical and why you trust it?

We believe Skyonic is an ethical company because their technologies promote a more sustainable system holistically. Their products are concerned with carbon capturing and recycling using cutting edge technology and a revolutionary business model. If the leaders of Skyonic were only concerned with profit, they would assign more of their efforts towards lucrative businesses such as underground storage. Skyonic’s activities are contributing to a better lifestyle for every one on earth. Power plants are the largest conductors of carbon dioxide, but eliminating them entirely would destroy countries’ infrastructure and people’s livelihood. Skyonic provides the basis of creating more environmentally conscious businesses. They are taking a risk, and face the possibility of bankruptcy, in order to encourage a new behavior in business. We believe in what they are doing because they are transparent, compelling, and have support from other leaders in both the private and public sectors.

D.The possible challenges facing the company in the future and how you think this company may improve.

Skyonic is a relatively young energy company that is pioneering previously untested technologies in a new market space. As such, Skyonic must operate under many uncertain conditions, which necessarily puts the company in danger. Despite this, many people are excited about Skyonic’s future as a company and its potential for reducing the facilities carbon emissions to nearly nothing. Financially, the company is doing well. A recent Series C investment of $128 Million and a strong financial performance in the last fiscal year will help to secure to Skyonic in the near future. Still, the company is growing rapidly which can be challenging. Now that their success is attracting many more players, they will need to prove themselves in their new proprietary market.

Despite the company’s impressive economic standing and cash flow projections, Skyonic will face some challenges in the future regarding their technologies and the realities of their net environmental impact. Skyonic’s value proposition to its clients is nearly impossible for any rational customer to turn down. Every company and facility should prefer to emit less carbon or increase production by other means. But people do not always act rationally, and can often be stuck in their ways, which means Skyonic will need to work harder to convince them.

A recent report from Green Tech Media unveils a problem that will be critical for Skyonic if they intend to prosper and grow. The report criticizes Skyonic by arguing that its process to recycle these gasses might be creating a larger environmental impact than they are alleviating with their technologies. This is because the company’s process requires an extremely large amount of energy to convert the CO2 gasses. Fortunately for Skyonic, the DOE recently assessed Skyonic’s process and determined that it indeed has a “negative carbon footprint,” though Skyonic did not disclose the size of that negative footprint. Inevitably, skeptical critics will always present a challenge to Skyonic going forward.

In addition, Skyonic will face the issue of intense competition looking towards the future. The market that Skyonic operates within is relatively undefined and new, thus Skyonic’s success has drawn many new companies into their market. Skyonic will have to ensure others do not steal their patent or replicate their idea to put them out of business. Skyonic’s process leaves space for a newer or more energy efficient technologies to put them out of business. To be strategic, Skyonic should seek to work with others, making them allies in the fight for environmental sustainability, rather than against them.

To be effective, Skyonic must continuously improve on their technologies to stay relevant and profitable moving forward. They must take their current carbon penalty of 43% down to their goal of 20%. This improvement will be driven by the fierce competition in their industry and will also have a highly positive environmental impact. If Skyonic is able to improve and adapt their technologies to advance the environment then they will continue to be successful and improve environmental practices globally.