China's steel major in alliance with clean tech firm

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand clean technology company LanzaTech will work with China’s largest steel and iron conglomerate, Baosteel, and the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to commercialize its technologies for producing fuel ethanol from steel mill off gases.

A partnership between Baosteel and LanzaTech and a three way research alliance between Baosteel, CAS Bureau of Life Science and Technology and LanzaTech were signed at the New Zealand Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo on June 20.

Baosteel Metal and LanzaTech will construct a demonstration plant at one of Baosteel’s steel mills, with the intention of quickly scaling the model again for the construction of the first fully commercial plant in China. The demonstration facility is expected to be in operation in the second half of 2011.

LanzaTech was founded in early 2005 to develop and commercialize proprietary technologies for the production of lowest cost fuel ethanol from gases produced by the steel industry. It has successfully run a pilot plant at NZ Steel in New Zealand since 2008. LanzaTech has also expanded its process to utilize biomass syngas.

LanzaTech and Baosteel will work with CAS scientists to accelerate the deployment of this technology and to jointly research, develop and commercialize related technologies.

“China is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and reducing its need for imported fuel, while continuing to increase its industrial output,” says Dr. Sean Simpson, cofounder and chief scientist for LanzaTech. “As one of China’s industry leaders and pioneers in world class clean steel technologies, Baosteel strives to work with new technologies that support its environmentally conscious operating strategy.”

CAS’ vice-president Dr. Jiayang Li says: “The signing of the Letter of Intent to jointly set up a R&D Center for Bioenergy is the innovation of multilateral cooperation in the area of bio-tech and bio-industry. This cooperation will play an active role in energy saving and emission reducing of steel industry and the development of bio-fuel.”

Baosteel’s vice president, Zhou Zhu Ping says: “Baosteel has been aware of the steel industry’s trend towards new low carbon technologies in the field of sustainability. LanzaTech’s technology will enable Baosteel to move further in this new direction by converting steel mill off gases to ethanol.”