LanzaTech to Convert Baosteel Mill Fumes Into Ethanol, CEO Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-03/lanzatech-to-convert-baosteel-mill-fumes-into-ethanol-ceo-says.html

By Andrew Herndon - Dec 3, 2012 8:00 AM ET

LanzaTech NZ Ltd., a closely held developer of transportation fuels and chemicals from waste industrial gases, plans to begin building next year an ethanol plant at a Baosteel Group Corp. steel mill in China.

The facility will use LanzaTech’s genetically-modified microorganisms to convert carbon monoxide-containing gas into as much as 10 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol a year starting in 2014, Chief Executive Jennifer Holmgren said by telephone Nov. 30. Financing is being arranged by Baosteel, she said, and wouldn’t disclose the expected cost.

The project is a joint venture with Baosteel, China’s second largest steel manufacturer, and scales up a 100,000 gallon a year demonstration plant the companies installed at one of Baosteel’s mills near Shanghai. Results from that project “have shown that the scaling of the technology has been successful,” LanzaTech, based in Auckland, New Zealand, said in an e-mailed statement.

LanzaTech also has a venture with Shougang Group, China’s fourth-largest steelmaker, and industrial companies in India, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are evaluating projects with the company. Holmgren told Bloomberg in January she may begin considering an IPO after successful operations of the Baosteel demonstration.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Herndon in San Francisco at aherndon2@bloomberg.net
 
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

Forest Sustainability Activists Welcome COP11 Recommendation on Biofuels

http://www.justmeans.com/Forest-Sustainability-Activists-Welcome-COP11-Recommendation-on-Biofuels/56576.html

 Antonio Pasolini
Oct 26, 2012 9:18 AM EDT

 Biofuels and their impact on biodiversity was on the table during the recent Conference of the Parties of the Biodiversity Convention (COP11), which took place in Hyderabad in India between October 08-19. One of the outcomes of the meeting was a recommendation regarding their production, which was met with cautious approval by a leading forest preservation organization.

The Global Forest Coalition (GFC) said in a statement that it welcomed the recommendation on biofuels. The text said subsidy policies and incentives should be reviewed and, in some cases, reversed, especially when they cause harm to biodiversity.

The Conference also adopted a decision on incentive measures in general. It stressed that there should be no delay on policy action when candidates for elimination, phase out or reform are already known. It encouraged parties to take appropriate action in such cases, taking into account national socio-economic conditions.

"These recommendations by the world's leading intergovernmental body in the field of biodiversity are very timely now that the European Commission just this week launched proposals for a review of EU biofuel policies," said Dr. Rachel Smolker of Biofuelwatch, the European focal point to the Global Forest Coalition.

The recommendations on biofuels and other issues are weaker than the organization expected, said Simone Lovera, GFC's executive, but she admitted that they show that governments are genuinely concerned about the impacts of the so-called bioeconomy, and associated new technologies like synthetic biology, and that many southern governments, in particular, insist on a strict precautionary approach to avoid the potentially devastating risks of with these new and unproven technologies.

Elsewhere, Helena Paul of Econexus, added that the "EC proposals are only a first step towards recognizing that all incentive measures that promote biofuel production should be abolished in clear evidence of their devastating direct and indirect impacts on biodiversity, and on the indigenous peoples, local communities and women. We hope these recommendations of the Parties to the Biodiversity Convention will encourage the EU to abolish support for large-scale industrial bioenergy altogether, and that they will not allow threats of legal action from the biofuel industry to deter them."

Conference to highlight forest bioenergy opportunities

http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/5438/conference-to-highlight-forest-bioenergy-opportunities

 

By Rona Johnson | April 21, 2011

 

The 31^st Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference promises to have something for everyone interested in developing, growing and utilizing biomass for the production of bioenergy.

The event, which is being held June 13-16 at the Imperial Palace Resort and Spa in Biloxi, Miss., is mostly dedicated to tree genetics, but the session on June 14 called Biomass and Biofuels Production is designed to educate the general public about the role of renewable biomass in producing biofuels and bioenergy.

Speakers during this portion of the conference include, Mississippi  Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, John Gacskaylo of KiOR Inc., Tim Eggeman of ZeaChem Inc. and Mike Cunningham of ArborGen.

The conference theme is Unlocking Tree Genomes for the Sustainable Economy and the bulk of it will focus on genetics and biotechnology and the challenge of increasing biomass quantity and quality of both pines and hardwoods for the emerging bioenergy /biofuel systems and traditional forest products industries on a finite land base, according to Randy Rousseau, associate extension research professor at Mississippi State University, who is helping to organize the event.

“Environmentalists say they don’t want to see every tree cut down and they don’t want to see anything brought in that might be invasive like in the case of the [genetically modified] eucalyptus,” Rousseau said. “So our hands are being tied by only working with technology that existed back in the 70s simply because, from a forest standpoint, we can’t move into the biotech or the genetic modification field.”

Rousseau, who is researching populous and willow for short-rotation woody crops production at MSU, said that it takes millions of dollars to go through the deregulation process to allow genetically modified trees to be grown and at this time many companies aren’t prepared to do that.

“The genetic modification of trees has been done before and it’s sort of on the shelf,” he said. “People who have it on the shelf don’t see a large enough market for it and don’t want to go through the whole deregulation process. Without the deregulation it just sits there.”

Rousseau said the same is true for biotechnology such as herbicide resistance in hardwoods. Being able to plant herbicide-resistant trees drives the cost of establishment down, which is crucial for developing a forest-based bioenergy industry.

Despite the challenges, there is movement in the industry. Recently Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour provided Texas-based KiOR with $50 million to help it build five facilities to produce biocrude oil from wood chips and other biomass in Mississippi.

“That’s significant for Mississippi because other than poultry plants, forestry is our biggest industry,” Rousseau said. “You do see some growth here, but there is a lot of room for utilization of biomass in the state of Mississippi, in the state of Alabama and I’m sure in Georgia and elsewhere.”

For more information on the conference, go to http://sftic.msstate.edu/index.html.