LanzaTech together with a research team from the IOC-DBT Center for Advanced Bio-Energy Research (an entity co-funded by India’s Department of Biotechnology and Indian Oil Corporation Limited) have developed a process that recycles CO2 emissions into omega-3 rich fatty acids.

Essential nutrients, omega-3 oils, cannot be synthesized by the human body, and instead must be consumed via the diet, most commonly from eating oily fish. Like humans, however, fish are unable to synthesize omega-3 fatty acids, and must source them through their diet as well. To keep up with global demand, fish farms (or aquaculture) use huge quantities of wild fish as feed, contributing to an overfishing crisis and threatening global food security.

The partnership developed a proprietary algae to recycle CO2 using LanzaTech’s microbes and produce algal oil that can be extracted and purified as an independent omega-3 lipid product, and omega-3 rich fish meal substitute. A continuous pilot plant facility shall be set up at IOC (R&D) next year which shall integrate the process, closely paralleling LanzaTech’s demonstrated waste gas to fuels technology process.

LanzaTech has successfully operated two 100,000 gpy demonstration facilities in China that convert waste flue gas from Baosteel and Shougang steel plants into ethanol. LanzaTech is currently developing larger-scale commercial facilities with construction expected to begin later this year.