Learn more about our history, mission, and what to expect while you build a fossil-free future.
Twelve is the carbon transformation company, our name is a nod to Carbon-12, the most stable and common form of carbon, the building block of our modern world. Founded in June 2015 at Stanford by Dr. Kendra Kuhl, Dr. Etosha Cave, and Nicholas Flanders, Twelve's core technology is a CO2 electrolyzer that works like an industrial photosynthesis, transforming CO2, water and renewable energy into the building blocks for materials, chemicals, and fuels, like our sustainable aviation fuel, E-Jet® SAF which has up to 90% lower emissions than conventional fuel.
Our founding
A new story for carbon
We were born from breakthrough discoveries by Dr. Etosha Cave and Dr. Kendra Kuhl at Stanford University, a recognized world leader in CO2 electrocatalysis. There, they developed our carbon transformation technology. In 2015, Etosha and Kendra were ready to take their fundamental discoveries from the lab and translate them into a commercial solution to revolutionize the way we reduce emissions by making the world's most critical chemicals from CO2 instead of fossil fuels. They co-founded Twelve with fellow Stanford graduate and clean tech entrepreneur, Nicholas Flanders. Etosha, Kendra, and Nicholas were part of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's first Cyclotron Road cohort, an incubator program that aids in the creation of environmentally beneficial companies.
A world made from air
Our mission to build a fossil-free future
We're on a mission to build a world made from air and a fossil-free future through the power of electrochemistry. We are builders inventing new systems, infrastructure and teams. We’re scaling our technology to eliminate global industrial emissions and build a fossil-free future. We know technology alone can't change the world, it takes a culture of extraordinary people, a diversity of talent, skills and perspectives working together.
We’re driven by three core beliefs:
The Future is Fossil-Free
A fossil-free future doesn't just happen—it has to be invented. We're creating new technologies and teams that have never existed before in order to get there.
It Takes Everybody
We need every available technology and approach to address the needs of the climate era. Twelve's technology is a critical part of eliminating industrial emissions and helping to reduce the trillion tons of CO2 in the atmosphere.
We Can Do This
Despite the audacity of the challenge and the path ahead, we are determined and we have the technology to transform our world from the inside out.
We're building and growing
We have a host of incredible investors, customers, and partners including: DCVC, Capricorn, Carbon Direct, Microsoft CIF, Breakout Ventures, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft, IAG (parent company of British Airways and Aer Lingus), Procter & Gamble, the US Air Force, Mercedes-Benz, Shopify and more. We're building our first plant at Moses Lake, Washington.
In the news
Twelve's founders have been featured in Netflix's Bill's Brain with Bill Nye the Science Guy and An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet Episode 1: Dusk or Dawn.
See our current list of conference and event appearances HERE.