LanzaTech to Convert Baosteel Mill Fumes Into Ethanol

LanzaTech NZ Ltd., a closely held developer of transportation fuels and chemicals from waste industrial gases, plans to begin building next year an ethanol plant at a Baosteel Group Corp. steel mill in China.

The facility will use LanzaTech’s genetically-modified microorganisms to convert carbon monoxide-containing gas into as much as 10 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol a year starting in 2014, Chief Executive Jennifer Holmgren said by telephone Nov. 30. Financing is being arranged by Baosteel, she said, and wouldn’t disclose the expected cost.

The project is a joint venture with Baosteel, China’s second largest steel manufacturer, and scales up a 100,000 gallon a year demonstration plant the companies installed at one of Baosteel’s mills near Shanghai. Results from that project “have shown that the scaling of the technology has been successful,” LanzaTech, based in Auckland, New Zealand, said in an e-mailed statement.

LanzaTech also has a venture with Shougang Group, China’s fourth-largest steelmaker, and industrial companies in India, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are evaluating projects with the company. Holmgren told Bloomberg in January she may begin considering an IPO after successful operations of the Baosteel demonstration.

source: bloomberg