LanzaTech vs Novozymes: Who's the Best?

August 20, 2011 |

Background: This is a second round, International Regional match-up between #4 seed LanzaTech and #5 seed Novozymes, in the 2011 Transformative Technologies tourney, from Biofuels Digest.

Voting: Open to all Biofuels Digest subscribers. Voting links are in the Biofuels Digest daily newsletter. To subscribe (free), visit here.

The winner gets: Most votes advances to the Sweet Sixteen (round of 16), and a shot at the Biofuels Elite Eight.

The loser: Goes home.

Laurels: LanzaTech is the 31st ranked company in the 2010-11 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy poll. Novozymes is currently ranked #7.

The match-up: Two key players in fermentation technologies – one gas, one liquids. LanzaTech took 61 percent of the votes in its first round battle with Aurora Algae. Novozymes prevailed over KL Energy by 71-29.

The LanzaTech process increases industrial energy efficiency by capturing waste gases (CO, CO2) and converting them to valuable fuels and chemicals through its microbial gas fermentaion technology. The LanzaTech process is feedstock agnostic and is not dependent on any one resource for gases. The LanzaTech process has already been proven utilizing steel mill off gases as well as synthesis gas derived from biomass.  This means that all synthesis gas is a suitable feedstock including gases derived from coal, petroleum coke, natural gas, municipal solid waste etc.

Novozymes’ core technology for the biofuels industry is enzymes that break down different types of feedstock into fermentable sugars for conversion into ethanol.  Within this area, Novozymes develops solutions for two distinct types of ethanol technology: cellulosic ethanol and starch-based ethanol. Novozymes cellulosic ethanol work is the largest endeavor the company has ever undertaken, with over 150 scientists dedicated to the effort.  Not only is Novozymes’ developing and offering the leading enzyme solutions for cellulosic ethanol technology, but we have also expanded our research focus into optimizing the pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation process steps.

Category: Fuels

Thank you for visting the Digest.