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PETRONAS and LanzaTech have announced today that they will work together to accelerate the development and commercialisation of technologies to produce chemicals from carbon dioxide and natural gas.

LanzaTech’s fermentation process currently converts carbon monoxide from industrial waste gases, reformed natural gas, and gas derived from sources of biomass into low-carbon fuels and chemicals. Petronas will work with LanzaTech to extend the technology to convert CO₂ from refinery off-gases and natural gas wells to produce acetic acid, used to produce polymers and plastics.

LanzaTech’s current process involves bubbling CO-containing gas through a bioreactor where it is consumed and converted by microbes dispersed through the column of liquid. A hybrid separation system then recovers the valuable products and co-products from the fermentation broth. These products can then be used directly as fuels, or converted into chemicals or fuels typically derived from petroleum. The water is recovered and returned to the reactor system, minimising water discharge.

Pilot projects for LanzaTech’s original process are underway in the US, China and India with partners including IndianOil, Mitsui, Baosteel, the Henan Coal and Chemical Industrial Corporation, and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

“Petronas and LanzaTech have the ability to significantly impact the future of carbon capture by fundamentally changing the way we deal with waste CO₂,” says LanzaTech CEO, Jennifer Holmgren. “Rather than trying to sequester carbon deep into the earth, we will ‘bury’ it in a chemical. In this way, companies can not only comply with emissions reduction requirements, but also generate revenue along the way.”

The ability to recycle CO2 – an industrial waste gas and key climate-changing gas – and turn it into a valuable feedstock at large scale would be a huge boon to industry.

The agreement builds on a partnership formed between the two companies earlier this year.