Diamonds, sunglasses and sports clothing can be made using carbon dioxide, or CO2, one of the major gases causing the Earth’s atmosphere to warm. Young technology companies making such manufacturing possible are getting attention from investors. Some manufacturing methods use bacteria. Others use proteins. Some use chemical processes to speed natural reactions. Most separate the carbon and oxygen in CO2 to create another chemical that is used to make popular products. It is estimated that these companies have raised over $800 million so far this year. That is more than three times their 2020 total, reports Reuters. The news agency examined data from research companies PitchBook, Circular Carbon Network, Cleantech Group and Climate Tech VC. I don't want to call it a green tax, but our consumers who really do care…have demonstrated that they're willing to pay a bit of a premium, said Ryan Shearman. He is chief of Aether Diamonds, which uses captured CO2 to manufacture diamonds. Another use of recycled carbon is less shiny but still strong: concrete. CarbonCure Technologies is developing a method that injects CO2 into fresh concrete. The trapped carbon strengthens the concrete and keeps the gas out of the air. Robin Niven leads the company. He said the word “green” is good for marketing products. About 90 percent of our uptake has been from independent concrete producers large and small that are just looking for that competitive edge.