LanzaTech to supply its 4G ethanol technology for Chattisgarh NTPC facility

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Global recycling & biofuels giant LanzaTech has been awarded a contract by new energy conglomerate Jakson Green to provide their 4G ethanol technology to India’s largest power generation utility company, NTPC Limited.

As per official statement, a Central India facility of NTPC will use LanzaTech technology platform and second generation bioreactor to convert CO2 emissions and green hydrogen into ethanol.

LanzaTech deploys its biorecycling solution at industrial facilities, capturing carbon-rich gases at the source before they are emitted into the atmosphere. Inside the bioreactor, LanzaTech’s technology works like a brewery, but instead of using yeast to convert sugar into beer, proprietary microbes convert carbon-rich gases into sustainable fuels, chemicals, and raw materials.

Focused on continuous improvement, LanzaTech says that its second generation bioreactor is able to intake CO2 and H2 to produce ethanol, a key building block for the production of consumer goods and sustainable fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel.

LanzaTech has proven its technology’s use of CO2 in a refinery setting with IndianOil Corporation, and this project with NTPC represents an expansion into the power generation industry with a feedstock stream where CO2 is the only carbon source.

The plant has been conceptualized and designed by LanzaTech and NETRA (NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance), the research and development arm of NTPC Ltd. Jakson Green is leveraging its engineering prowess to lead the development of this groundbreaking project in Chhattisgarh, India.

This first-of-its-kind plant is projected to have an annual CO2 abatement capacity of 7,300 ton, the equivalent of carbon sequestered annually by 8,523 acres of forest land. The plant is expected to begin operations within two years.

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech CEO, said, “Waste-based feedstocks can support Prime Minister Modi’s Make in India initiative by boosting the regional domestic manufacture of essential goods and materials. What’s better for the environment can also be better for business.”

In India, LanzaTech’s carbon recycling technology is already producing ethanol using refinery emissions from Indian Oil Corporation’s Panipat facility, one of six plants using LanzaTech’s technology at commercial scale worldwide.

LanzaTech also announced a strategic partnership with GAIL last year to explore innovative technology solutions that advance GAIL’s Net Zero 2040 goals. LanzaTech is also working with Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited on a project to manufacture ethanol from agricultural residue, in addition to numerous other projects in earlier stages of development across multiple feedstocks.