Carbon Forming

Carbon Forming was a collaborative R&D mission to embed CO2 removed from the air in 3D-printed objects through a distributed, solar powered, modular platform. The mission kicked off in early 2022 through the initiative of a small team of scientists, designers, engineers and artists located all over North America. By expanding this collaboration to include the insights, ideas and support of a much larger global community, the mission team aims to rapidly evolve the concept into a real world, functional prototype.

  • On this forum we aim to collectively solve mission-related challenges, and surface new ideas and advancements through open exchange.

In December 2022 the mission has no leadership and is inactive.


base layers of a 3D printed object made with PEN-100 / PLA filament

extruder and PEN-100 / PLA filament

mixture of 1/3 PEN-100 and 2/3 PLA

Tray being printed with PEN-100 / PLA filament


filament extruder

filament extruder

PEN-100 / PLA filament

about 1/10 PEN-100 and 9/10 clear PLA, showing how carbon material tends to stay towards the center of the filament

making a mold for CaCO3 + ABS


using downwards pressure and heat (with a toaster oven at 500 degrees F) to mold the material



after drilling and filing