Technip Energies and LanzaTech Global, Inc. announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) has committed up to $200 million in federal funding and authorized the initiation of Phase 1 of their Sustainable Ethylene from CO2 Utilization with Renewable Energy Project (Project SECURE).
Project SECURE, led by Technip Energies in partnership with LanzaTech, aims to provide an integrated commercial process which takes captured carbon dioxide from ethylene production and recycles it with low carbon intensity hydrogen to create sustainable ethanol and ethylene, according to the company's release.
This joint technology solution is intended to first be deployed in the U.S. Gulf Coast region for integration directly into an existing commercial ethylene cracker and has significant replication potential for ethylene crackers worldwide. Globally, there are approximately 370 ethylene steam crackers, over 40 percent of which use Technip Energies’ technology, including eight in the US.
LanzaTech’s carbon recycling technology, which has benefited from previous DOE support, can also be utilized in any industry with waste carbon, allowing other sectors to profit from capturing and recycling carbon-rich emissions into valuable ethanol, instead of sequestering or releasing them into the atmosphere. OCED has committed up to $200 million throughout the project duration to Project SECURE to fund the design, engineering, construction, and equipment for the commercial-scale integrated technology unit.
Today’s announcement represents the award of nearly $20 million for the first of four phases to be funded by OCED over the course of the project. During Phase 1 of the project, Technip Energies and LanzaTech will conduct a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study, developing project plans, providing documentation and reports necessary to complete the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, and engaging with local community and labor stakeholders.
LanzaTech Global, Inc. is the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and protein for everyday products. Using its bio-recycling technology, LanzaTech captures carbon generated by energy-intensive industries at the source, preventing it from being emitted into the air. LanzaTech then gives that captured carbon a new life as a clean replacement for virgin fossil carbon in everything from household cleaners and clothing fibers to packaging and fuels.