April / May 2020 - Lab Grown Magazine

April / May 2020 | LG | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 20 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | April / May 2020 21 based in North Carolina and is a well-funded, non-profit group that claims to be “the first col- lective and comprehensive trade association” representing the LG industry. As of last count, this group is still small with less than 35 member companies worldwide, including growers, distrib- utors, retailers and consumer brands. IGDA’s declared mission is to represent, edu- cate, promote, develop and grow the LG industry, while helping consumers better understand the value and benefits of LG diamonds. If that is truly the case, the IGDA seems to be doing so in the shadows. Most people are unaware of their pres- ence, and there was no response to my requests for information. Yet, both of these LG groups contend that an earth-mined diamond produces more than 125 pounds of carbon per carat. By contrast, LG diamonds release about 6 pounds of carbon, or 5% of what mined stones produce. Clearly, their carbon footprint is much smaller. LG producers may also compare the amount of sulfur dioxide that mined diamonds produce (more than 30 pounds each) compared to zero for lab-grown diamonds. Sulfur dioxide is a pollutant that de- pletes the ozone layer, contributing to the warm- ing of the Earth. Do you wonder why you haven’t read a lot about that benefit? So do I. The winning solution for LG’s sustainability argument is the use of renewal energy, and this seems to be where the industry is heading. “Any LG diamond factory could launch in any city, powered largely by renewable energy, and it would emit less carbon than any diamond miner and should be promoted as such,” in a statement from researchers at the University of Delaware. Kentucky Clean ‒ Science versus Sensationalism Based in Louisville, Kentucky, a new LG facil- ity is currently producing l,000 “clean carats” a month. The Kentucky Advanced Materials Manu- facturing Company (KAMM) is a subsidiary of Da Vinci holdings, a global organization with existing operations ranging from jewelry manufacturing to distribution. KAMM’s LG project is a collaboration with the University of Louisville’s Center for Renewable Energy Research and is part of a billion-dollar worldwide effort to grow large “green” diamonds for a variety of applications, including jewelry. While KAMM is the first to establish this scale of capability in Kentucky, it has a hard time making national news. >> Lab-grown diamond production in America is expected to increase through 2025 according to Statista. (Graph: Statista as licensed by Luxe Licensing, LLC) Mining-oriented membership groups are placing what appears to be a permanent and heavy thumb on the sustainability scale.