Dr Sean Simpson is our Innovator of the Year 2014. Sean is the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Auckland-based company, Lanzatech, a clean-technology venture that has led the way in developing new ideas in Bio-commodity Technology.
Sean is a pioneer in finding environmentally sustainable ways to create bio-fuels. With a focus on using waste gases from sources like steel mills, oil refineries and coal-fired power stations, this means that the bio-fuel they create doesn't require crops and land that might otherwise be used for food production.
Sean's Lanzatech Company has attracted more than $100 million (NZD) funding from investors. In early 2012 Lanzatech launched a joint venture with China's Shougang Group to construct a demonstration plant at one of Shougang's steel mills in China leading up to a commercial production facility in 2013.
