50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy candidate profiles: LanzaTech
LanzaTech
Based in: New Zealand
2008-09 ranking: Unranked
Business: Developer of a technology that converts CO2 from coal-fired power plants to Carbon monoxide gas is produced in high volumes by the steel industry. Industrial waste gases contain elevated concentrations of carbon monoxide gas and little or no hydrogen-this is pumped out of the flue stacks and causes pollution. The LanzaTech Process captures the carbon monoxide gas from steel mills – gases are scrubbed, cooled and sent to a bioreactor.The carbon component is used as a food source for the proprietary LanzaTech microbes during the biofermentation process. The microbes use this energy to produce ethanol. The LanzaTech process can also use syngas from municipal waste, tires, and waste wood can.
Model: Varies. Ideally, joint venture, LanzaTch brings intellectual property and ability to operate plants, and partner brings gas and land. Some joint venture partners may also provide investment.
Past milestones:
1. Completion of a pilot plant, now producing 5,000 gallons of ethanol per year based on a 1000-liter capacity. Installed cost was $5 million.
2. Getting a steel mill (New Zealand’s BlueScope Steel) to be interested in ethanol as an added-value co-product, and commercially confirming that interest through the operation of the pilot.
3. Developing operations plan suitable for a hazardous operating environment such as an industrial-scale steel mill – including the development of an industrial-scale complete health & safety plan.
Future milestones:
1. Completion of a demonstration-scale, 500,000 gallon per year plant. Now looking for site. Engineering is in place, but looking for site, and final costing will depend on site selection. Installation will take eight months, and the company expects to reach this milestone by the end of 2010.
2. 40 Mgy ethanol production by 2013 with completion of first commercial plant.
3. Look for the company to be based in New Zealand, but develop primarily for the larger markets, with a focus on Australia and the US. CEO Sean Simpson recently completed a trip to China, which manufactures as much as 50 percent of the world’s steel – “could be a huge market for us, down the road.”
Metrics: Competitive with $40 oil, excluding the potential value of carbon credits.
Sean Simpson (CEO) quotable quotes: “No biofuels company develops just for New Zealand. We’re a country here of 4 million people. This is home, where the IP is developed, but the near-term opportunities lie elsewhere. Down the road, there are big opportunities here based on gasification of wood. But in the end, you hope to do a lot of business elsewhere and bring it back home.”
The Hot 50 for 2009-10 will be released Tuesday, 12/1. Between now and then, you’ll see profiles of potential candidates in the Digest, and you’ll have a chance to vote for your favorites. Reader response will count for 50 percent of a company’s overall score in the preparation of the rankings. The remaining 50 percent is voted by a panel of experts.
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