Bowei Lee, CEO and Chairman of LCY, says LCY plans to investigate alternative bio-C₂ to C₅ feedstock as raw materials, replacing petroleum oil for LCY’s current portfolio of products such as TPE, PP, solvents, and methanol derivatives. LCY is also looking to further developments in bio green products including bio-plastics and bio-fuels.

LCY will fund the construction of production plants in exchange for access to LanzaTech’s technology. LanzaTech’s proprietary gas fermentation technology has been proven to produce low cost ethanol from steel mill gases and that has been extended to other industrial off gases and synthesis gas from gasification. More recently it had been shown the LanzaTech process can produce 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BD) (earlier post), an oxygenate which can be used to make hydrocarbon fuels—true drop in fuels that can replace diesel, jet fuel and gasoline—and high value chemicals.

Dr Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech’s chief executive, says the implication from the heads of agreement is LanzaTech’s technology will be able to deliver economic benefit through the entire value chain from its feedstock suppliers to distributors.

LCY, a billion-dollar enterprise, is fully integrated and operates in Taiwan, China, Japan, Qatar and the United States.

Bio-based chemicals are currently one per cent of global chemicals production, but that is expected to increase to nine per cent during the next 10 years. LanzaTech and LCY will produce key bio-based chemicals, creating new products and revenue streams for both companies.

—Dr. Holmgren