Ecologia, Medio Ambiente y Energias Renovables en la Naturaleza
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Lunes, 21 de Mayo de 2012
Malaysian investors took the lead in a recently concluded $55 million investment round for startup LanzaTech, another company which produces ethanol at least partly from fossil fuel-derived products.
Rather than fermenting sugars found in corn or soybean, LanzaTech uses special bacteria that can convert carbon monoxide containing gases produced by industries such as steel manufacturing and oil refining into ethanol. But the company said it can also use woody biomass and municipal waste as feedstock.
Incidentally, Llast week a bill which includes hydrocarbon-based ethanol alongside those derived from renewable sources in the Renewable Fuel Standard was introduced at the House of Representatives.
House Resolution 3773 allows ethanol produced from domestic hydrocarbons, aside from biomass-based ethanol, to satisfy the Renewable Fuel Standard requirement of the United States.
The Series C was led by the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, a venture fund specializing in early stage investments in agriculture, industrial and healthcare biotechnology managed by the Malaysian government and Burrill & Co.
Other Malaysian investors were Petronas Technology Ventures, the investment arm of Petronas which is the country's national oil company, and local engineering firm Dialog Group.
Existing investors Khosla Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners and the K1W1 venture capital fund also participated in LanzaTech's latest investment round.
The Illinois-based company has raised more than $85 million to date.
Early this month, the company said it acquired an ethanol refinery in Soperton, Georgia for $5.1 million, as part of a liquidation process of now bankrupt Range Fuels Inc. The plant originally used woodchips sourced from local flora
The plant could be LanzaTech's first production facility, although it is also currently building a demonstration plant in China using waste gases produced from a steel mill owned by Baosteel, China's largest steel manufacturer.
LanzaTech also has industrial partners in India, where it is partnering with Concord Blue on a project to use municipal solid waste as feedstock for ethanol. It has also partnered with Indian Oil and Jindal Power and Steel Limited for a facility to convert industrial waste gases into ethanol. – Oliver M. Bayani
