IOC, LanzaTech ink Rs 350-cr pact to build first off gas-to-bioethanol unit

State-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and LanzaTech, carbon recycling company, have signed a deal to build the world’s first refinery off gas-to-bioethanol production facility in India at an investment of Rs 350 crore.

LanzaTech has developed a gas fermentation process to make fuels and chemicals. Instead of sugars and yeast, the company uses a biological catalyst to ferment waste gas emissions. “The large volume of waste gas produced at the industrial facilities such as refineries cannot be stored or transported; rather it must be combusted, leading to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Power can be carbon-free and in India, the cost of renewable power has fallen below the cost of coal, thereby, accelerating the transition to a carbon-free grid,” said an IOC statement on Monday. 

LanzaTech’s technology allows refineries to divert waste gases from the grid, supporting the transition to fully renewable power, while recycling this carbon into liquid fuels and petrochemicals.

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