The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award winners
be honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC. The winners and
their innovative technologies are:
Algenol in Fort Myers, Florida, is being recognized for devel-
oping a blue-green algae to produce ethanol and other fuels. The
algae uses carbon dioxide from air or industrial emitters with
sunlight and saltwater to create fuel while dramatically reducing
the carbon footprint, costs and water usage, with no reliance on
food crops as feedstocks. This is a win-win for the company, the
public, and the environment. It has the potential to revolutionize
this industry and reduce the carbon footprint of fuel production.
Hybrid Coating Technologies/Nanotech Industries of Daly
City, California, is being recognized for developing a safer, plant-based polyurethane for use on floors, furniture and in foam insulation. The technology eliminates the use of isocyanates, the
number one cause of workplace asthma. This is already in production, is reducing VOC’s and costs, and is safer for people and
the environment.
Lanza Tech in Skokie, Illinois, is being recognized for the development of a process that uses waste gas to produce fuels and
chemicals, reducing companies’ carbon footprint. LanzaTech
has partnered with Global Fortune 500 Companies and others
to use this technology, including facilities that can each produce
100,000 gallons per year of ethanol, and a number of chemical ingredients for the manufacture of plastics. This technology is already a proven winner and has enormous potential for
American industry.
SOLTEX (Synthetic Oils and Lubricants of Texas) in
Houston, Texas, is being recognized for developing a new chemical reaction process that eliminates the use of water and reduces hazardous chemicals in the production of additives for
lubricants and gasoline. If widely used, this technology has the
potential to eliminate millions of gallons of wastewater per year
and reduce the use of a hazardous chemical by 50 percent.
Renmatix in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is being recognized for developing a process using supercritical water to more
cost effectively break down plant material into sugars used as
building blocks for renewable chemicals and fuels. This innovative low-cost process could result in a sizeable increase in the
production of plant-based chemicals and fuels, and reduce the
dependence on petroleum fuels.
Professor Eugene Chen of Colorado State University is being recognized for developing a process that uses plant-based
materials in the production of renewable chemicals and liquid
fuels. This new technology is waste-free and metal-free. It offers
significant potential for the production of renewable chemicals,
fuels, and bioplastics that can be used in a wide range of safer
industrial and consumer products.
During the 20 years of the program, EPA has received more
than 1,500 nominations and presented awards to 104 technologies. Winning technologies are responsible for annually reducing
the use or generation of more than 826 million pounds of hazardous chemicals, saving 21 billion gallons of water, and eliminating 7. 8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent releases
to air. CW
