China Steel approves investment in commercial ethanol facility

Taiwan's largest integrated steel maker, China Steel Corporation (CSC), has announced formal Board approval of a 1.4 billion TWD (€42.8 million) capital investment in a LanzaTech commercial ethanol facility. This follows the successful demonstration of the revolutionary carbon recycling platform at the White Biotech (WBT) Demonstration Plant in Kaohsiung using steel mill off gases for ethanol production.

LanzaTech's gas fermentation process uses proprietary microbes to capture and reuse carbon rich waste gases, reducing emissions and pollutants from industrial processes such as steel manufacturing, while making fuels and chemicals that displace those made from fossil resources.

In November 2012, CSC and LCY Chemical Corporation formed a joint venture, White Biotech (WBT), as part of a Green Energy Alliance with LanzaTech. The resulting demonstration plant met or exceeded all ethanol production milestones and the CSC Board have formally approved the capital to move to commercial scale. A 50,000 MT per annum facility is planned for construction in Q4 2015, with the intention to scale up to a 100,000 MT per annum commercial unit thereafter. Initial product focus will be industrial ethanol and gasoline additives, with plans for increased product diversity utilising LanzaTech's unique microbial capability.