Henan Coal to use LanzaTech technology to produce ethanol

New Zealand biotech firm LanzaTech is set to use its patented microbe technology to convert the polluting by-products of Henan Coal and Chemical Industrial Corp., one of China’s biggest coal producers, into ethanol. Freya Burton, LanzaTech communications manager, said the process involved the firm’s patented microbe–basically a bacteria that feeds off waste gases produced by mining processes. The microbe uses the gases as a source of carbon, turning the carbon into valuable chemicals such as ethanol. Burton said the microbe created by LanzaTech was safe, like yeast, and had been cleared by the World Health Organization. (September 8, 2010)