Jennifer Holmgren | |
|---|---|
 Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2021 | |
| Born | 1962 (age 62–63) |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Chemist |
Jennifer Holmgren (born 1962) is a Colombian chemist whose research area is on chemical technologies and fuel. She is currently the CEO of LanzaTech, a company dedicated to sustainability by using gas fermentation products to create materials that are necessary for everyday life. [1]
Holmgren, the eldest of three children, was born in Colombia and migrated to the United States with her family when her father, an aircraft mechanic, got a new job with Avianca, a Colombian airline. Her mother, a homemaker, worked odd jobs when and where she could. Both of Holmgren's parents were proponents of education. While still a child in Colombia, Holmgren had a fascination with the universe and dreams of space travel. Upon her family's move to the United States, Holmgren attended a high school in Los Angeles and developed interests in chemistry and STEM. [2] With the encouragement of her teachers, Holmgren continued her endeavors in STEM and created a space for herself in the male-dominated field. Her father's work as an aircraft mechanic inspired her to contribute to the field of aviation at Universal Oil Products. She claims that aviation is her first love. An aptitude for academics and support from family and educators aided in her success. [3]
Holmgren graduated from Harvey Mudd College with a Bachelor of Science degree. She also holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. [4]
Holmgren has worked to promote and expand the field of chemical technologies and fuel. She was the former Vice President and General Manager, Renewable Energy and Chemicals at Universal Oil Products (UOP). During her time at UOP she led renewable technology that was useful in fuel production for use in the field of aviation. [5] Holmgren is currently the chief Executive Officer at LanzaTech and sits on the board for Bio Energy Research. LanzaTech is a carbon recycling company that uses bacteria to transform carbon into ethanol. Compared to traditional petroleum methods, LanzaTech’s waste gas-to-ethanol process (biomass gasification) reduces life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 67-98%. [6] Since working at LanzaTech, Holmgren has arranged for repurpose facilities to be built across the world to create chemicals and fuel from carbon sequestration. [7] Her work in both organizations has contributed to the popularization of new biofuel mechanization. [8] Under Holmgren’s guidance, LanzaTech ceased making jet fuel and formed, LanzaJet, a profit-driven production plant located in Soperton, Georgia, which will begin operating in 2023.[ citation needed ]
Since her time at LanzaTech, Holmgren, along with her crew has received the United States Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Award in 2015. She also received an Outstanding Leadership Award in Corporate Social Innovation from the YMCA Metropolitan Chicago and the BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology in 2015. [9] In 2017, Holmgren was titled the most influential leader in the Bioeconomy sector and acquired an award in leadership from Global Bioenergy in 2018.[ citation needed ]
Holmgren has been the author and co-author of 20 scientific publications and has also been a part of 50 patents and publications. [10]
In 2022, Holmgren received an honorary doctorate degree from Delft University of Technology and was classified as a Top 40 Power Player by the Independent Commodity Intelligence Service. [11]
In 2022, LanzaTech entered the Earthshot competition for their carbon recycling technology. LanzaTech is one of 15 finalist, the only finalist from the United States. The competition had the support of Prince William who established the prize. [12]
Ethanol is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CH2OH. It is an alcohol, with its formula also written as C2H5OH, C2H6O or EtOH, where Et stands for ethyl. Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a characteristic wine-like odor and pungent taste. As a psychoactive depressant, it is the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages, and the second most consumed drug globally behind caffeine.
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic or industrial bio waste. Biofuels are mostly used for transportation, but can also be used for heating and electricity. Biofuels are regarded as a renewable energy source. The use of biofuel has been subject to criticism regarding the "food vs fuel" debate, varied assessments of their sustainability, and ongoing deforestation and biodiversity loss as a result of biofuel production.
Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, in various ratios. The gas often contains some carbon dioxide and methane. It is principally used for producing ammonia or methanol. Syngas is combustible and can be used as a fuel. Historically, it has been used as a replacement for gasoline, when gasoline supply has been limited; for example, wood gas was used to power cars in Europe during WWII.
Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline.
Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol produced from cellulose rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. It is generally discussed for use as a biofuel. The carbon dioxide that plants absorb as they grow offsets some of the carbon dioxide emitted when ethanol made from them is burned, so cellulosic ethanol fuel has the potential to have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels.
The methanol economy is a suggested future economy in which methanol and dimethyl ether replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, ground transportation fuel, and raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products. It offers an alternative to the proposed hydrogen economy or ethanol economy, although these concepts are not exclusive. Methanol can be produced from a variety of sources including fossil fuels as well as agricultural products and municipal waste, wood and varied biomass. It can also be made from chemical recycling of carbon dioxide.
Various alcohols are used as fuel for internal combustion engines. The first four aliphatic alcohols are of interest as fuels because they can be synthesized chemically or biologically, and they have characteristics which allow them to be used in internal combustion engines. The general chemical formula for alcohol fuel is CnH2n+1OH.
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) refers to a series of processes designed to convert waste materials into usable forms of energy, typically electricity or heat. As a form of energy recovery, WtE plays a crucial role in both waste management and sustainable energy production by reducing the volume of waste in landfills and providing an alternative energy source.
Honeywell UOP, formerly known as UOP LLC or Universal Oil Products, is an American multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production, and major manufacturing industries.
The bioconversion of biomass to mixed alcohol fuels can be accomplished using the MixAlco process. Through bioconversion of biomass to a mixed alcohol fuel, more energy from the biomass will end up as liquid fuels than in converting biomass to ethanol by yeast fermentation.
Lignocellulose refers to plant dry matter (biomass), so called lignocellulosic biomass. It is the most abundantly available raw material on the Earth for the production of biofuels. It is composed of two kinds of carbohydrate polymers, cellulose and hemicellulose, and an aromatic-rich polymer called lignin. Any biomass rich in cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin are commonly referred to as lignocellulosic biomass. Each component has a distinct chemical behavior. Being a composite of three very different components makes the processing of lignocellulose challenging. The evolved resistance to degradation or even separation is referred to as recalcitrance. Overcoming this recalcitrance to produce useful, high value products requires a combination of heat, chemicals, enzymes, and microorganisms. These carbohydrate-containing polymers contain different sugar monomers and they are covalently bound to lignin.
Fermentation is a type of redox metabolism carried out in the absence of oxygen. During fermentation, organic molecules are catabolized and donate electrons to other organic molecules. In the process, ATP and organic end products are formed.
Renewable fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels, Hydrogen fuel, and fully synthetic fuel produced from ambient carbon dioxide and water. This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas, LPG (propane), petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability, low contributions to the carbon cycle, and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases. The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest, particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil.
Acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation, also known as the Weizmann process, is a process that uses bacterial fermentation to produce acetone, n-butanol, and ethanol from carbohydrates such as starch and glucose. It was developed by chemist Chaim Weizmann and was the primary process used to produce acetone, which was needed to make cordite, a substance essential for the British war industry during World War I.
Second-generation biofuels, also known as advanced biofuels, are fuels that can be manufactured from various types of non-food biomass. Biomass in this context means plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel.
Biogasoline is a type of synthetic gasoline produced from biomass such as algae and plants. Like traditionally petroleum-derived gasoline, biogasoline is made up of hydrocarbons with 6 (hexane) to 12 (dodecane) carbon atoms per molecule, and can be directly used in conventional internal combustion engines. However, unlike traditional gasoline, which are fractionally distilled from crude oil and thus are non-renewable fossil fuels, biogasolines are renewable biofuels made from algal materials, energy crops such as beets and sugarcane, and other cellulosic residues traditionally regarded to as agricultural waste.
Syngas fermentation, also known as synthesis gas fermentation, is a microbial process. In this process, a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, known as syngas, is used as carbon and energy sources, and then converted into fuel and chemicals by microorganisms.
An aviation biofuel is a biofuel used to power aircraft. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) considers it a key element in reducing the environmental impact of aviation. Aviation biofuel is used to decarbonize medium and long-haul air travel. These types of travel generate the most emissions, and could extend the life of older aircraft types by lowering their carbon footprint. Synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) refers to any non-petroleum-based fuel designed to replace kerosene jet fuel, which is often, but not always, made from biomass.
Twelve is a chemical technology company based in Berkeley, California. They develop technology to convert CO2 into profitable chemicals, such as plastics and transportation fuels. Currently, the company uses metal catalysts to produce synthetic gas (syngas), methane, and ethylene.
Kandis Leslie Abdul-Aziz is an American chemical and environmental engineer known for the development of technologies that turn agricultural waste into a filtration system for water. While previously residing at the University of California, Riverside, she worked as an assistant professor in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department. Before joining the University of Southern California, she directed the Sustainable Lab, a diagnostic center for repurposing waste materials into innovative products that offer benefits to society.