Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) — 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.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Andrew Herndon in San Francisco at
aherndon2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
