In the first, the clean energy technology firm has not only retained its spot in the prestigious Global Cleantech Top 100, but also been named ‘Company of the Year Asia Pacific’ for 2011.

In the second, LanzaTech has been judged to have shown the ‘Best Innovation by an SME’ in the global ICIS Innovations Awards 2011.

LanzaTech’s chief executive Dr Jennifer Holmgren is delighted. “Being named in the Top 100 list for the second year running, and now as Asia Pacific Company of the Year, recognises the potential LanzaTech has to make a real impact on the world’s energy future,” Dr Holmgren says.

“It is particularly significant that the ICIS award comes straight after World Food Day (October 16). It is increasingly vital for the world to produce more energy without threatening food production. LanzaTech’s novel gas-liquid fermentation process produces fuels and chemicals without any impact on the food value chain.”

Environmental considerations played a key part in all the winning entries in the ICIS Awards. John Baker, global editor at ICIS, says this year there was an emphasis on bio-based technologies, designed to replace oil and gas feedstocks in the chemical industry or reduce carbon emissions. No fewer than seven of the 14 short-listed entries involved bio-based technologies.

LanzaTech’s innovation caught the judges’ eyes as it successfully incorporates synthesis-gas technology and bioprocessing to give an economically robust route to carbon capture and re-use.

One of the ICIS Awards judges, Dr Gregg Zank who is chief technology officer at Dow Corning, said LanzaTech’s technology had the potential to be disruptive in the long term, especially if it could develop or modify the organisms further to increase the range of chemicals produced. “There is a lot of novelty here,” he said.

Another judge, Dr Adrian Higson from the UK Centre for Biorenewable Energy, Fuels and Materials, said LanzaTech’s marriage of thermoprocessing and bio-processing gives LanzaTech a flexible platform.

Dr Holmgren says LanzaTech’s process produces fuels and high-value chemicals from low-cost resources, such as industrial flue gases from steel mills and processing plants, syngas generated from any biomass resource, coal-derived syngas and steam reformed methane. A growing suite of chemicals are able to be produced, including 2,3-butandiol, butanol, propanol, isoprene and succinic acid.