LanzaTech, Mibelle Group, and Fraunhofer IGB Achieve Technology Breakthrough with Production of Palm Oil Substitute
LanzaTech (NASDAQ: LNZA) has announced a breakthrough technology development in collaboration with Mibelle Group and Fraunhofer IGB to produce a sustainable palm oil substitute. The innovative dual fermentation technology transforms waste CO2 gases into alcohol and then into palm oil-like fat using non-GMO oil yeasts.
This advancement has dual significance: it offers an alternative to palm oil in cosmetics while potentially expanding feedstock options for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production through the Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) pathway. The technology has successfully completed laboratory trials at Fraunhofer IGB and application tests at Mibelle laboratories, with scaling efforts now underway at Fraunhofer's Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes in Leuna.
LanzaTech (NASDAQ: LNZA) ha annunciato un importante sviluppo tecnologico in collaborazione con Mibelle Group e Fraunhofer IGB per la produzione di un sostituto sostenibile dell'olio di palma. L'innovativa tecnologia a doppia fermentazione trasforma i gas di scarto ricchi di CO2 in alcol e successivamente in grasso simile all'olio di palma utilizzando lieviti oleosi non OGM.
Questo progresso ha una duplice importanza: offre un'alternativa all'olio di palma per i cosmetici e potrebbe ampliare le materie prime disponibili per la produzione di carburante sostenibile per aviazione (SAF) tramite il processo HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids). La tecnologia ha completato con successo le prove di laboratorio presso Fraunhofer IGB e i test applicativi nei laboratori Mibelle, e ora sono in corso attività di scale-up presso il Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes di Fraunhofer a Leuna.
LanzaTech (NASDAQ: LNZA) ha anunciado un avance tecnológico en colaboración con Mibelle Group y Fraunhofer IGB para producir un sustituto sostenible del aceite de palma. La innovadora tecnología de doble fermentación convierte los gases residuales con CO2 en alcohol y luego en una grasa similar al aceite de palma usando levaduras oleaginosas no modificadas genéticamente.
Este progreso tiene un doble significado: ofrece una alternativa al aceite de palma en cosmética y podría ampliar las materias primas disponibles para la producción de Combustible Sostenible de Aviación (SAF) mediante la vía HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids). La tecnología ha completado con éxito ensayos de laboratorio en Fraunhofer IGB y pruebas de aplicación en los laboratorios de Mibelle, y ahora se están desarrollando escalados en el Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes de Fraunhofer en Leuna.
LanzaTech (NASDAQ: LNZA)는 Mibelle Group 및 Fraunhofer IGB와 협력해 지속 가능한 팜유 대체물 개발에 획기적인 기술 진전을 발표했습니다. 혁신적인 이중 발효 기술은 폐기된 CO2 가스를 알코올로 전환한 뒤, 비유전자변형(Non-GMO) 유지 효모를 사용해 팜유와 유사한 지방으로 전환합니다.
이번 진전은 두 가지 측면에서 중요합니다. 화장품용 팜유 대체재를 제공하는 동시에 HEFA(수소처리 에스테르 및 지방산) 경로를 통한 지속가능 항공유(SAF) 생산을 위한 원료 선택지를 확대할 잠재력이 있습니다. 이 기술은 Fraunhofer IGB에서의 실험실 시험과 Mibelle 연구소에서의 적용 시험을 성공적으로 완료했으며 현재 Leuna에 있는 Fraunhofer 화학·바이오공정센터에서 스케일업 작업이 진행 중입니다.
LanzaTech (NASDAQ: LNZA) a annoncé une avancée technologique majeure en collaboration avec Mibelle Group et Fraunhofer IGB pour produire un substitut durable à l'huile de palme. La technologie innovante de double fermentation transforme les gaz résiduaires contenant du CO2 en alcool, puis en une graisse proche de l'huile de palme en utilisant des levures oléagineuses non OGM.
Cette avancée revêt une double importance : elle propose une alternative à l'huile de palme dans les cosmétiques et pourrait élargir les options de matière première pour la production de Carburant d'Aviation Durable (SAF) via la filière HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids). La technologie a réussi les essais en laboratoire au Fraunhofer IGB et les tests d'application dans les laboratoires Mibelle, et des travaux d'industrialisation sont désormais en cours au Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes de Fraunhofer à Leuna.
LanzaTech (NASDAQ: LNZA) hat in Zusammenarbeit mit Mibelle Group und Fraunhofer IGB eine bahnbrechende technologische Entwicklung zur Herstellung eines nachhaltigen Palmöl-Ersatzes angekündigt. Die innovative Doppel-Fermentationstechnologie wandelt Abgas-CO2 in Alkohol und anschließend mittels nicht-GVO ölbildender Hefen in palmölähnliche Fette um.
Dieser Fortschritt ist zweifach bedeutsam: Er bietet eine Alternative zu Palmöl in Kosmetikprodukten und könnte die Rohstoffbasis für die Herstellung von nachhaltigem Flugkraftstoff (SAF) über den HEFA-Weg (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids) erweitern. Die Technologie hat Laborversuche am Fraunhofer IGB und Anwendungstests in den Mibelle-Labors erfolgreich durchlaufen; derzeit laufen Skalierungsmaßnahmen am Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes von Fraunhofer in Leuna.
- Innovative technology provides sustainable alternative to palm oil, addressing deforestation concerns
- Potential expansion into HEFA pathway for SAF production, broadening market opportunities
- Successful completion of laboratory trials and application tests
- Technology can transform waste CO2 gases into valuable products, supporting decarbonization efforts
- Technology still in scaling phase, not yet commercially operational
- Production capacity and cost efficiency yet to be demonstrated at commercial scale
Insights
LanzaTech's breakthrough enables palm oil-free SAF production via the HEFA pathway, expanding feedstock options beyond limited waste oils.
LanzaTech has achieved a significant technological breakthrough that could reshape sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production economics. Their novel dual fermentation technology transforms waste CO₂ into alcohol and then into palm oil-like fats, effectively creating a sustainable palm oil substitute with applications extending beyond cosmetics to aviation fuel.
This innovation addresses a critical bottleneck in the SAF industry. Currently, the Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) pathway for SAF production relies heavily on limited feedstocks like used cooking oil and animal fats, which face severe supply constraints as demand scales. By potentially enabling CO₂-derived synthetic oils as HEFA feedstock, LanzaTech's technology could dramatically expand the available feedstock pool for this established production pathway.
The technology offers a double climate benefit: it captures and utilizes waste carbon while simultaneously reducing dependency on palm oil, which is linked to deforestation and significant carbon emissions. This circular solution transforms carbon waste into high-value products - a perfect example of carbon management in action.
This development complements LanzaTech's existing Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) process, giving the company multiple technological pathways to serve the rapidly growing SAF market. With aviation facing immense pressure to decarbonize and limited viable pathways, this breakthrough positions LanzaTech to potentially capture significant market share in the expanding SAF industry while addressing palm oil's sustainability challenges across multiple sectors.
LanzaTech's CO₂-to-palm-oil-substitute technology offers transformative potential across cosmetics, aviation fuel, and other palm-dependent industries.
This breakthrough represents a step-change in sustainable materials science by creating a functional palm oil substitute through an innovative carbon capture and utilization approach. The dual fermentation process - converting waste CO₂ first to alcohol and then to palm oil-like fats using non-GMO oil yeasts - creates a circular solution to two major environmental challenges: carbon emissions and palm oil dependency.
The technical achievement here is remarkable. Palm oil's unique properties (high oxidative stability, solid fat content curve, and triglyceride composition) have made it extraordinarily difficult to replace in applications from cosmetics to fuels. Creating a functional substitute from waste carbon that replicates these essential characteristics represents a significant materials science advancement.
What makes this particularly valuable is the versatility of applications. Beyond cosmetics (the initial target with Mibelle Group), this technology could potentially provide feedstock for the HEFA pathway for sustainable aviation fuel. This pathway currently relies on limited supplies of waste oils and virgin vegetable oils, creating serious sustainability and scaling challenges for the aviation industry's decarbonization goals.
The progression from lab-scale trials to scale-up at Fraunhofer's Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes indicates the technology is moving toward commercial viability. If successfully scaled, this innovation could simultaneously reduce deforestation pressure, capture carbon emissions, and help decarbonize multiple hard-to-abate sectors - a rare triple-benefit technology that addresses several sustainability challenges through a single circular solution.
Revolutionary technology has potential to expand feedstock for HEFA pathway for SAF, while eliminating palm oil dependency across industries
CHICAGO, Sept. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LanzaTech Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNZA) (“LanzaTech” or the “Company”), a leader in carbon management solutions, is proud to announce an innovative advancement with the potential to transform global sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. Having successfully commercialized its technology to produce ethanol for SAF via the Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) process, the team’s breakthrough expands LanzaTech’s capability for producing SAF via the Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) pathway. This groundbreaking innovation offers a sustainable palm oil substitute, leveraging LanzaTech's versatile technology which is pivotal for decarbonization efforts across various sectors.
Collaboratively developed with the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB and the Mibelle Group, this palm oil alternative replicates essential functional properties needed in the cosmetics industry. Moreover, this development potentially introduces a novel route to the HEFA pathway for SAF production, circumventing the sustainability and supply challenges currently present with conventional oil crops and waste oils typically used in this process.
"This innovation is the result of our long-standing partnership with LanzaTech and a milestone for the cosmetics industry. Combined with the innovative strength of the Fraunhofer Institute, we are setting new standards for the entire industry and underlining our commitment to taking responsibility for the future of our planet while making supply chains more robust," says Peter Müller, CEO of the Mibelle Group.
"The Mibelle Group, as the original innovator behind this idea, has been instrumental in assembling the right partners and driving success, alongside the Fraunhofer Institute's outstanding innovators who have focused on developing and scaling this solution,” said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “This collaboration reflects how revolutionary ideas can generate wide-ranging impacts, from reducing reliance on deforestation-linked ingredients in cosmetics to enabling the production of sustainable aviation fuel, thereby creating change that extends beyond initial objectives.”
The Environmental Challenge and the Innovative Solution
Palm oil is a critical raw material due to its high yield, long shelf life, and heat resistance. However, the global dependency on palm oil has resulted in extensive deforestation, biodiversity loss, and significant CO₂ emissions, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable alternatives.
The unique dual fermentation technology, pioneered by LanzaTech and Fraunhofer IGB, transforms waste CO2 gases into alcohol and further into a palm oil-like fat using non-GMO oil yeasts in a secondary fermentation process. Following successful laboratory trials at Fraunhofer IGB and promising application tests at Mibelle laboratories, efforts are now focused on scaling up production. This process is currently underway at Fraunhofer’s Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes in Leuna, representing a crucial step toward commercial production.
Addressing Aviation's Decarbonization Challenge
Alcohol from the LanzaTech process is already an ideal feedstock for SAF production. Via the Alcohol to Jet Process, LanzaTech’s technology enables the production of advanced sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and when the ethanol is made from CO₂ and green hydrogen, e-fuels.
The versatility of LanzaTech's technology could potentially now extend into another route to SAF, namely the Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) pathway: transforming ethanol into synthetic oils that function as alternatives to conventional HEFA feedstocks.
This innovation advances LanzaTech’s position at the forefront of the rapidly expanding SAF market, offering airlines and fuel producers a new tool in their decarbonization arsenal while demonstrating how circular carbon solutions can transform entire industries.
About LanzaTech
LanzaTech Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNZA) is a carbon management solutions company that transforms industrial emissions, gasified solid waste and carbon dioxide into recycled carbon ethanol via proprietary bio-fermentation technology. Ethanol is a crucial building block in the world – a key feedstock for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and other downstream chemical derivatives. Operating commercially at six assets today, LanzaTech’s technology unlocks value across the supply chain, reducing the carbon footprint of hard-to-abate sectors while shepherding recycled carbon fuels and products to the world, building a circular carbon economy. www.lanzatech.com
About Mibelle Group
The Mibelle Group, a Persán company, operates in the personal care & beauty, home care, and nutrition sectors and is a leader in the private label business. It also produces and distributes its own renowned brands as well as state-of-the-art and highly effective active ingredients for the cosmetics industry through Mibelle Biochemistry. The Mibelle Group employs around 1,400 people and has production sites in Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The company also has distribution sites in the Netherlands and Australia.
Further information: https://www.mibellegroup.com
About Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB
Combining biological and process engineering expertise, Fraunhofer IGB develops and optimizes processes, technologies, and products for health, sustainable chemistry, and environmental and climate protection. Complete solutions from laboratory to pilot scale are among the institute's strengths. At the institute's branch in Leuna, the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP, pilot plants are available for scaling to product-relevant dimensions.
www.igb.fraunhofer.de
Press contact: icr@lanzatech.com
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