So that is a very nice integration opportunity for us. But what’s even more important is the cracker itself is an integration opportunity. And the reason I say that is, as you know, we’ve done quite a bit of work with technique on ethanol to ethylene. Technip actually made the ethylene from our ethanol for the EVA, the foam for the work that we did with on shoes. So we’ve already partnered with them on making ethylene for materials production, if you recall, for the realist and took that ethylene and made the EVA. But if you take a step even further back, of course, you know, the hummingbird, the ethanol to ethylene from Technip, is also the first step in their sustainable aviation field production. So not only do we know that we can use the gas from the cracker, we know that our ethanol output integrates very nicely with technip.
One of the gas that we have had is that we have been producing the ethylene at a different location than the ethanol. Transporting ethanol can add cost. And so our materials that are produced, there is a supply chain cost. By integrating directly into a cracker, there is no additional supply chain or movement of the ethanol cost. And so, we believe this is how we can drive the cost of making materials from our CO2 derived ethanol, drive those costs down. And of course, the other beauty of integrating into a cracker is that most crackers in a petrochemical complex also are integrated with further downstream production, whether it’d be polyethylene, MEG for polyester, or EDA, or even PVC. And so for us, that integration means that immediately our ethylene can be used in a mass balanced way with the rest of the ethylene produced in the cracker.
And as you can see, it’s just a beautiful way to start to both reduce the CO2 emissions with a cracker, but also integrating to the back end, into the ethylene production. So we think this is just a beautiful, replicable way to get ourselves to a point where we produce materials from CO2.
Steve Byrne: Yes, makes sense. Thank you. I’d like to take a similar question on the off gas from an ethanol plant. You mentioned a few minutes ago about the ethanol industry is trying to move down to more decarbonizing the ethanol and lowering the CI score. I’m just wondering, conceptually, could the other approach to decarbonize an ethanol plan is to use your technology on the ethanol flue gas? I guess I’m wondering whether or not there’s very little CO and it’s CO2, and that’s maybe more challenging. But you could build that at an ethanol plan and convert that into SAF?
Jennifer Holmgren: Absolutely. And so to begin with, right, you are correct that we can use that CO2. 45% of the carbon that goes into an ethanol production facility, sugar-based production facility comes off with CO2. And you said it might be harder than CO for us to convert it. And the difficulty is just making sure we have hydrogen available. But a lot of corn ethanol production or other ethanol production in the United States and in Midwest is surrounded literally by wind nodes, right, wind farms. And so there is access to renewable power. There is access, therefore, to the production of hydrogen, and so, converting that CO2 to ethanol is actually not any harder than converting CO. The second thing I would say is, as there is more and more resistance and concern about pipelines to take CO2 and sequester it, that means that there is an awful lot of CO2 on the back end of ethanol plants that could be reutilized to make more ethanol, reducing the carbon intensity of the original ethanol and also enabling more ethanol to be produced so that we can make SAF.
So you hit it right on the head. The beauty of that CO2 as well, by the way, is that it’s biogenic. And so globally, there are a lot of drivers to reusing biogenic CO2 versus necessarily fossil-derived CO2. So it’s a massive win. We are really excited about working with the industry to increase yield from the same input by utilizing CO2. And I hope that you see that as a theme to everything LanzaTech does, it’s all about making more products from the same raw materials, whether it’s CO2 on the back end of the corn ethanol plant, whether it’s CO2 from the cracker. At the end of the day, our goal is to use every last bit of carbon to make products to reduce both carbon intensity, but also to reduce raw material inputs.
Steve Byrne: Very clear. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] And ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have no further questions today. Dr. Holmgren, I’d like to turn things back to you, ma’am, for any closing comments.
Jennifer Holmgren: Thank you. It cannot be overstated that pioneering a new path in the energy sector is rife with complexities. We’re altering the very paradigm of energy production and utilization. A task that is as formidable as it is inspiring. Infrastructure, perceptions, and, yes, legislation are yet to be fully aligned with the innovative process that we are championing. It’s important to remember that movement creates friction. And as the first of the kind in this space, we’ve chosen to lean into that, into that friction, because we believe that is where true progress is made. Thank you again for joining us. Thank you again for supporting us. Thank you again for giving us the opportunity to show what we can do with carbon that’s already above ground with waste carbon. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you, Dr. Holmgren. Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude today’s LanzaTech Global First Quarter 2024 earnings call again. Thanks so much for joining us and we wish you all a great day. Goodbye.
