Waste Gas to Ethanol facility starts production in China

LanzaTech and Shougang Group have announced the successful start-up of what they claim to be the world’s first commercial facility converting industrial emissions to sustainable ethanol.

Carbon recycling company Lanzatech and Chinese iron and still producer Shougang created the facility in a joint venture. The facility is located at the Jingtang Steel Mill in Caofeidian, Hebei Province. According to a LanzaTech statement, it began operations on 3 May.

LanzaTech uses anaerobic bacteria to ferment industrial waste emissions to produce fuel ethanol. According to the company, this ethanol’s performance in fuel blending applications is ‘indistinguishable’ from sugar derived ethanol as it meets all specifications of ASTM International D4806. In addition, the ethanol meets the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB 18350 for denatured fuel ethanol.

The new facility has a capacity of 46,000 tonnes (16 million gallons) of ethanol per year.