LanzaTech NZ, Inc. (“LanzaTech”), an innovative Carbon Capture and Transformation (“CCT”) company that transforms waste carbon into materials such as sustainable fuels, fabrics, packaging and other products that people use in their daily lives, today announced that Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech participated in the Summit on Biotechnology & Biomanufacturing for the American Bioeconomy today at The White House. Dr. Holmgren met with Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese, Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Dr. Holmgren was invited to The White House to brief the President’s national economic and security advisors, on the progress LanzaTech has made in leveraging biotechnology and biomanufacturing for a safe, secure, and sustainable U.S. bioeconomy. U.S. Government agency leaders, Members of Congress, industry, academic, and non-governmental leaders – representing a range of bio-sectors from around the United States also participated.
Dr. Holmgren led by commending the President on issuing the recent biotechnology and biomanufacturing Executive Order, which acknowledges that successfully scaling innovation takes an all-of-government approach. “We cannot underestimate the importance of coordination between programs, departments and agencies in accelerating commercialization, impact and, importantly, education and access,” she said.
LanzaTech is leading by example and Dr. Holmgren told the gathered crowd that she has set a grand challenge for her company. She said, “We believe that by 2040, every U.S. consumer, regardless of where they are from or how much they earn, will have direct access to a sustainable version of every product they purchase. We must not let sustainable products be limited to the wealthy.”
LanzaTech currently operates three commercial facilities that convert industrial emissions into ethanol. This ethanol is then used to make clothing, packaging, aviation fuel, fragrances, cleaning products, and detergents, many of which are available today for public consumption.
Holmgren’s vision is quickly becoming a reality. With LanzaTech’s scaled technology, their pipeline of global production plants is expected to reach around 200 million gallons of annual production capacity and 1 million tons of annual CO2 mitigation in the next 3 years.
At the Summit, Holmgren said, “Thanks in large part to ambitious programs and funding assistance from key government agencies and collaboration with the US National Labs, we have built a comprehensive suite of genetic, synthetic biology tools and AI-based models that allow us for the first time, to precisely engineer such biological factories to enable production of over 100 different chemicals.” The CCT company has partnered with major global consumer products companies or brands that want these materials in their supply chains to reduce their own climate impacts.
“To successfully transition away from virgin fossil inputs, we need scalable alternatives, and I believe biotechnology can be the engine that drives this change. This new carbon economy market opportunity represents trillions of dollars, and can bring jobs, particularly in manufacturing, to rural communities around the world,” Holmgren said.
The IRA and the Executive Order to launch a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative provides the foundation to “dream bigger and act bolder,” Holmgren said. “We are already showing the world how to use nature to heal itself, and biotechnology holds the key.”
LanzaTech will continue to collaborate with more partners to create a post pollution future, where waste carbon and biotechnology make the things we use in our daily lives.
Dr. Jennifer Holmgren’s remarks can be found at www.LanzaTech.com.
