The world’s challenges to deal with climate change become more visible by the day. Humanity urgently needs solutions to provide the growing world population with
a sustainable supply of energy, food, health and materials. Biotechnology is a key technology that could offer solutions for a sustainable economy. In the last 10 years,
the global biotechnology sector has undergone a strong growth, driven by scientific developments and by, often impact-driven, investments in young, innovative
biotech companies.
The Biotech Campus Delft is a global hotspot where knowledge, infrastructure and network are actively shared to support growth of the biotech sector. Planet B.io was
founded in 2020 with support of DSM, Delft University of Technology, Delft municipality, Province of South-Holland, and regional investment company
InnovationQuarter. Planet B.io is dedicated to creating an open innovation hub on the Biotech Campus Delft, which today offers a home to 19 companies and more
than 1400 employees.
LanzaTech was founded in New Zealand, has its headquarter in Chicago, USA and has offices in China, India. LanzaTech is now expanding its operations into Europe
with a growing team and offices recently opened in England, Belgium and now also in Delft, The Netherlands. LanzaTech is the third global biotech company at the
campus next to DSM and Centrient Pharmaceuticals.
LanzaTech’s carbon recycling gas fermentation technology has been in commercial operation since 2018 in China. The process is like retrofitting a brewery onto an
emission source like a steel mill or a landfill site, but instead of using sugars and yeast to make beer, industrial emissions (Carbon oxides such as CO, CO2 and also H2) are converted by bacteria into fuels and chemicals. The primary product ethanol is already used in consumer products in Europe under the CarbonSmartTM name.
For example, ethanol in household cleaning products is developed in partnership with Mibelle in Switzerland. LanzaTech’s technology allows sustainable production of
a variety of chemicals for application in textiles, sneakers, perfume or even jet fuel, just to name a few.
The 1st European commercial production facility is at the ArcelorMittal steelworks in Gent, Belgium and will be inaugurated in December 2022, with targeted EU
production of CarbonSmart™ ethanol in 2023. This facility has received funding from the European Commission’s Horizon2020 program.
“We are delighted to find a home for our team at the Biotech Campus Delft,” says Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “We look forward to joining this community of like-minded companies on this vibrant campus as we grow our operations in Europe.”
“Our team has grown substantially over the last 3 years with much of us working remotely because of COVID,” says LanzaTech VP Europe, Babette Pettersen. “As we
return to in person operations, we are excited to be joining and collaborating with the community of Planet B.io in what is clearly a hive of sustainable entrepreneurship
and innovation.”
Cindy Gerhardt, managing director Planet B.io, is also excited about the settlement of LanzaTech on the Biotech Campus Delft: “LanzaTech is truly a global biotech frontrunner, their technology is a gamechanger in creating a circular industry with biotechnology. The fact that our partner Delft
University of Technology awarded CEO Jennifer Holmgren with an honorary doctorate in recognition of her pioneering work on Industrial Biotechnology this year
says it all. We warmly welcome the team at the Biotech Campus Delft. The presence of LanzaTech will strengthen our ecosystem bringing unique experience in
biotechnological carbon recycling at scale.”
“We are thrilled with the announcement that, next to DSM and Centrient, a third global biotechnology company makes its home at the Biotech Campus Delft.
We strongly believe in the economical and sustainable potential of this location for Delft, the Netherlands and the whole world. The choice of LanzaTech for Delft
confirms this believe. The city is well known for knowledge and innovations in a broad field of technologies. With the coming of LanzaTech, Delft will play an even bigger
role in the field of biotechnology,” says mayor Municipality of Delft Marja van Bijsterveldt.
About LanzaTech
LanzaTech harnesses the power of biology and big data to create climate-safe materials and fuels. With expertise in synthetic biology, bioinformatics, artificial
intelligence and machine learning coupled with engineering, LanzaTech has created a platform that converts waste carbon into new everyday products that
would otherwise come from virgin fossil resources. LanzaTech’s first two commercial scale gas fermentation plants have produced over 40 million gallons of ethanol,
which is the equivalent of offsetting the release of 200,000 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Additional plants are under construction globally. About Planet B.io
Planet B.io is a dedicated organisation aiming to grow the innovation ecosystem on the Biotech Campus, a site with over 150 years of biotechnology history.
Planet B.io promotes collaboration between start-ups, SMEs, corporates, tech- and service providers and knowledge institutes to maximize the impact of innovations in
the field of biotechnology. Planet B.io enables companies to develop and commercialise their biotech solutions, providing a local hub with access to lab space, pilot facilities, and space for industrial production with the relevant environmental permits. Planet B.io further supports companies by actively building network opportunities with scientists, technologists, other companies, investors and policy makers.
About biotechnology
The world is currently facing enormous challenges due to the growth of the world’s population. We must find radical solutions to deal with climate change, pollution,
and reduction of biodiversity to secure that future generations will stay healthy and have access to sustainable sources of energy, food, water, and materials. Besides application of modern biotechnology in human and animal health (for example the production of vaccines), biotechnology offers unique opportunities to improve the health of our planet. In biotechnology, cells or microorganisms are used as miniature factories, which grow together in large numbers in bioreactors. Humankind has used this process for thousands of years to produce foods and beverages, then called fermentation. The applications of biotechnology today are endless; biofuels, biodegradable plastics, water purification, food, feed and ingredients including aromas and flavourings, medicines, and the production of all kinds of widely applicable raw materials (ranging from clothing to building materials). The microorganisms grow using renewable plant materials like waste stream from sugar production, or even CO2 or light. Biotechnology therefore enables us to move from linear production processes based on fossil resources to circular production processes based on renewable resources.
Contacts
Media Contact - LanzaTech
Freya Burton, Chief Sustainability Officer
LanzatechPR@icrinc.com
Media Contact - Planet B.io
Eline Reijmerink, Communications manager
eline.reijmerink@planet-b.io
