Ethanol, which has proven to be a convenient source of renewable energy, nevertheless raises concerns about displacing agricultural production needed for food. LanzaTech may have found an answer to the problem by genetically engineering bacteria to create ethanol while feeding off carbon monoxide, a nasty byproduct of steel production, auto fumes and a variety of other industrial processes. The company’s patented microbe is anaerobic, so it does not function in plain air. Instead, it comes to life when immersed in a patented fermentation solution inside a bioreactor, which is then flooded with carbon monoxide gas piped in from a nearby.
