Suncor, LanzaTech, and Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) are working on a pilot project that converts waste-based feedstock, including municipal waste and forestry residues, into ethanol and other chemicals necessary to make petroleum-free materials and goods.
Biofuels made from waste-based feedstock reduce emissions, promote a circular economy, and provide economic opportunities in the places they are taken from.
The collaboration between government and industry, leveraging the latest technology using an age-old process around fermentation, is accelerating the demand for innovation in addressing one of the world’s most significant challenges – the Climate Crisis.
Why is this important?
The demonstration facility is operated by Suncor leveraging LanzaTech’s technology to convert the feedstocks into ethanol. With the support of the Government of Alberta and the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Fund through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) and Alberta Innovates, this project is expected to show how reducing emissions in the supply chain is possible and why it is critical to diversify the feedstocks of the future.
This technology for converting forestry and municipal solid waste streams into fuels and power could be used across several municipalities in Alberta. Making ethanol from waste-based feedstocks can reduce emissions by 97% relative to fossil gasoline.
While LanzaTech is already capturing carbon emissions and working with Coty, Zara, Unilever, On, Bridgestone, BASF, and others with products made from carbon emissions already available in the market, this pilot is expected to achieve greater efficiency and lower operating costs in capturing waste-based feedstock and converting it into ethanol. As world leaders prepare to gather in Egypt later this month for COP, it is critical to show meaningful progress in achieving net zero. This collaboration is the perfect example of how we can get it done to create a post-pollution future.
