Watt it Takes: LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren

Jul 30, 2024

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Jennifer Holmgren

LanzaTech

Jennifer Holmgren is the CEO of LanzaTech, a circular economy company that uses bacteria to transform carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into ethanol, the building block for materials like plastics, polyester, and jet fuel.

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Emily spoke with Jennifer about growing up in Columbia, her four decade career in renewable energy and fuels, her time as CEO of LanzaTech, which, in no small part thanks to her leadership, operates six commercial plants around the world, partners with industry heavyweights, and employs over 400 people worldwide.

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren is the CEO of LanzaTech. Under her guidance, LanzaTech is developing a variety of platform chemicals and fuels, including the world’s first alternative jet fuel derived from industrial waste gases. Before LanzaTech, Jennifer was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. Jennifer is the author or co-author of 50 U.S. patents and more than 30 scientific publications and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2003, she was the first woman awarded the Malcolm E. Pruitt Award from the Council for Chemical Research (CCR).

"I think new technologies, disruptive technologies always solve two problems at once. Think about our technology as being at the center of two problems. We have hard to abate sectors like steel, cement, etc. that have gasses or feedstocks that we can use. And then on the other end, we have hard to abate sectors like aviation that need an alternative to fossil fuel. And so we kind of sit in the middle of that."