Did you know iron could burn? The combustion of iron powder seen here is taking place on an entirely smokeless, carbon free basis.

Tested in microgravity aboard ESA sounding rockets by a team from McGill University in Canada and Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, this technique has now been harnessed by Swinkels Family Brewers in the Netherlands, helping to free their brewing process from reliance on fossil fuels.

“The best way to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere is not to emit it at all,” explains ESA engineer Antonio Verga, who worked on flying the team’s experiments aboard TEXUS sounding rockets.