“At the regulatory level, US and EU are focused primarily on biofuels and neither has created significant incentives for bio-based chemicals that play an equally important role in the bioeconomy. The US has made tremendous investments in biofuel technology development, in pilot and demonstration biofuel facilities, and in feedstock production, logistics and infrastructure. The EU appears to be investing more in the development of Bioproducts than the US at the moment.” To say it, in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista, is Jennifer Holmgren, Chief Executive Officer of Lanzatech, the company, set up in 2005 in New Zealand and based now also in the US, which is revolutionizing the way the world thinks about waste carbon by treating it as an opportunity instead of a liability. LanzaTech’s novel gas-to-liquid technology has opened up vast new sources for making low-carbon chemicals and fuels that displace petroleum without the environmental concerns associated with crop- and land-based bioproducts. This flexible technology has the potential to disrupt the current highly centralized petroleum-based energy system by enabling regional production of low-cost, energy from local wastes and residues.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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