LanzaTech CEO Dr Jennifer Holmgren
2022 Finalist
Fix Our
Climate

LanzaTech

Country: USA

Carbon, released into the atmosphere, heats the planet. LanzaTech are using bacteria to recycle carbon pollution into profitable and sustainable products.

Their Story

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon, which traps heat in the atmosphere and drives up global temperatures, but it is also a prized element in chemicals, proteins and fuels.

While the world fights to combat the climate crisis and makes its transition to clean energy, we also need ideas that mitigate the harm caused by carbon pollution.

Enter LanzaTech. Its gas fermentation technology traps pollution and turns it into something useful. By targeting CO2, as well as industrial, municipal and agricultural waste, the company has discovered a way to produce large quantities of useful materials, while keeping fossil fuels in the ground.

Three ethanol plants in China, two at ferro-alloy plants and one at a steel mill, already use LanzaTech technology and have diverted over 190,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions into valuable products, such as sustainable fuels, packaging, cosmetics, cleaning products and textiles. Zara, Coty and Lululemon are some of the major consumer brands already making products using building blocks made by LanzaTech.

Dr. Holmgren dreams of a “circular economy in which carbon can be infinitely reused.” She aims to have 20 plants in operation by the end of 2024 and is well on her way. Seven LanzaTech plants are already under construction, with seven more in the design phase. With LanzaTech, the dirtiest feedstocks are building a clean future.

Other Finalists in Fix Our Climate

Learn About the Earthshots

Protect
and Restore
Nature
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030, we choose to ensure that, for the first time in human history, the natural world is growing – not shrinking – on our planet. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Protecting and managing natural carbon stores such as peatlands and intact forests
  2. Restoring forests, wetlands, and other damaged ecosystems
  3. Developing and scaling regenerative agriculture
Learn more about this earthshot

Clean Our
Air
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030 we choose to ensure that everyone in the world breathes clean, healthy air – at World Health Organization standard or better. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Engaging citizens in data collection and advocacy
  2. Efforts to stop burning in agriculture and forests
  3. Transitioning to clean personal transportation
Learn more about this earthshot

Revive Our
Oceans
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030, we choose to repair and preserve our oceans for future generations. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Reducing and addressing overfishing 
  2. Developing ocean ecosystem services that mitigate climate change: ‘blue carbon’ 
  3. Advancing climate change solutions with ocean benefits 
Learn more about this earthshot

Build a
Waste-free
World
2022/23 PRIORITIES

By 2030, we choose to build a world where nothing goes to waste, where the leftovers of one process become the raw materials of the next – just like they do in nature. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Moving towards waste-free food, including efforts to shift to a plant-based diet
  2. Championing waste-free fashion 
  3. Circular solutions: extending the life of goods and/or eliminating single-use goods
Learn more about this earthshot

Fix Our
Climate
2022/23 PRIORITIES

We choose to fix the world’s climate by cutting out carbon: building a carbon neutral economy that lets every culture, community and country thrive. 

This Earthshot focuses on three main areas of interest: 

  1. Transitioning to renewable energy for all
  2. Reducing methane emissions
  3. Constructing buildings fit for the future
Learn more about this earthshot
The Earthshot Prize