Founded in 2005 on the strength of its microbial gas fermentation technology, the alternative bio-fuel company LanzaTech recently demonstrated the com- mercial viability of their patented process. In a press release, the company announced the successful production of 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BD) from waste gas in a pilot project with NZ Steel, a running steel mill located in Glenbrook, New Zealand. LanzaTech's CEO, Dr. Jennifer Holmgren claims the pilot project involved running a 15,000 gallon per year facility at the steel mill for over a year. "This is a whole new avenue to grow the production of bio-fuels," she says. "The technology uses organisms that allow us to ferment, in this case, waste gas from the mill and convert them to ethanol." With another two projects underway with Baosteel, China's largest steel and iron conglomerate, and the Henan Coal and Chemical Industrial Corporation, LanzaTech aims to scale their model as quickly as possible. "We have three projects running in parallel," says Dr. Holmgren. "Our number one priority is to get from 15,000 to 100,000 gallons per year, and then to commercialise with 50 million gallons. With the Baosteel project we hope to have a 100,000 gallon facility by 2011, and a 50 million gallon facility by early 2013. Our second priority is to balance fuels and chemicals. We have demonstrated we can make 2,3-BD, but we want to extend that portfolio beyond ethanol to make other fuels and chemicals. Our other priority is to integrate biochemistry with thermo-chemistry, and convert this 2,3-BD to butadiene and butylenes and then eventually into plastics." The LanzaTech microbial gas fermentation process can be used on any biomass resource. Although initially focused on the steel industry, LanzaTech is also looking at applications in refineries and coal facilities. The company aims to leverage its expertise in synthetic biology to make new products that are not purely ethanol-based. "We will be working with partners who can do thermo-conversion," says Dr. Holmgren. "We would really like to show that we are extensible to any fuel waste stream, and that we can utilise CO2, not just CO. We also want to demonstrate that we can produce molecules other than ethanol." LanzaTech is a privately held company, and recently Qiming led the round where the company raised $18 million. "The future of alternative fuels and carbon capture is very promising," says Dr. Holmgren. "All of the various companies working on this technology are capable of making a combined portfolio of solutions that can really make an impact in substituting petroleum and changing the landscape of energy. top - home