LanzaTech's Technology at Center of Indian Cooperation
Thursday 30 June 2011, 7:36AM
By LanzaTech
346 views
Two Indian partners of clean energy firm LanzaTech are in discussions about collaborating to accelerate the deployment of the company’s proprietary gas fermentation technology to produce fuel ethanol from industrial off-gases.
IndianOil and Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) are exploring how to leverage their resources to implement a commercial scale ethanol plant using LanzaTech’s technology to process waste gases from a Jindal steel mill. The fuel ethanol produced by the plant would be blended into IndianOil’s gasoline pool.
IndianOil is India’s largest national oil company and its leading refiner and marketer of petroleum products. JSPL produces steel and power through backward integration from its own captive coal and iron-ore mines.
The announcement came during the state visit to India by New Zealand Prime Minister Rt Hon John Key and Trade Minister Hon Tim Groser, with a 25-strong delegation of business people. LanzaTech’s vice-president of business development Asia Pacific, Prabhakar Nair, is part of the delegation.
Mr Nair says LanzaTech’s goals in India are to help industry in mitigating green house gas emissions and in meeting the Indian government’s criterion that new sources of renewable energy production do not compromise food or water resources.
India’s crude petroleum imports are expected to exceed 80% of its consumption of fuel in the next few years. The Indian Government has a national biofuels policy to increase the use of renewable fuels produced from sustainable, non food sources. Fuel sold now requires 10% ethanol (E10) blended with mineral fuels, rising to 20% (E20) by 2017.
“LanzaTech’s process meets the Indian Government’s criterion,” Mr Nair says. “This proposed collaboration between IndianOil and JSPL will not only deliver a new, indigenous resource to India’s liquid transportation fuel pool, but it will also demonstrate that India’s new energy future requires the creation of novel business partnerships.”
New Zealand founded LanzaTech is already collaborating on international projects in the steel, coal and chemicals sectors. It has expanded its portfolio from the production of lowest cost fuel ethanol from non food renewable resources to now include the production of 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO), a key building block used to make polymers, plastics and hydrocarbon fuels, such as jet fuel.