• CERAWeek
  • March 18 - 22, 2024

Jennifer Holmgren

LanzaTech

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren is CEO of LanzaTech. Under Jennifer’s guidance, LanzaTech is developing a variety of platform chemicals and fuels, including the world’s first alternative jet fuel derived from industrial waste gases. She is also the Director and Chair of the LanzaJet Board of Directors. Prior to LanzaTech, Jennifer was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. While there, she was a key driver of their leadership in low carbon aviation biofuels. Jennifer has authored or co-authored 50 U.S. patents and more than 30 scientific publications and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She is on the Governing Council for the Bio Energy Research Institute in India. The institute has been set up by the DBT (Department of Biotechnology, Indian Government) and IOC (Indian Oil Corporation). She also sits on the Advisory Council for the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, the National Academies' Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES), the Halliburton Labs Advisory Board, the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS International Advisory Council, and the Founder Advisory for The Engine, a venture capital fund built by MIT that invests in early-stage science and engineering companies. Jennifer holds a B.Sc. degree from Harvey Mudd College, a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Sessions With Jennifer Holmgren

Monday, 6 March

  • 09:30am - 10:10am (CST) / 06/mar/2023 03:30 pm - 06/mar/2023 04:10 pm

    Advancements in Decarbonizing Heavy Industry

    In heavy industry, steel, cement, and chemicals remain the most difficult components to decarbonize due to the intense temperatures needed in their applications. What new technological processes are helping these industries reach their low carbon goals? 

  • 04:30pm - 05:00pm (CST) / 06/mar/2023 10:30 pm - 06/mar/2023 11:00 pm

    LanzaTech | Carbon Recycling for a New Carbon Economy
    There is an abundance of carbon locked in wastes from agriculture, forest, unsorted, unrecyclable municipal wastes and in gaseous byproducts of certain manufacturing processes. Biotechnology enables us to convert waste carbon into everyday products, turning our carbon problem into an economic opportunity.
    Watch Now
  • 07:30pm - 09:00pm (CST) / 07/mar/2023 01:30 am - 07/mar/2023 03:00 am

    Is Sustainable Investing Accelerating the Energy Transition?
    Energy Transition/Climate & Sustainability
    Getting to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions will require trillions of dollars in investments. Fiscal policies, complemented by a broad range of regulatory and financial policies, will be necessary to enable this transition. The global financial industry can play an important role in financing the transition to a greener economy. After years of rapid and consistent growth, ESG investing faced new headwinds in 2022. A surge in sustainability-related funds and products has created suspicions about reporting, standards and greenwashing in many jurisdictions. In the United States, opposition to ESG concepts has driven certain Republican-controlled states to shift some investments and threaten more. At the same time, the oil and gas sector outperformed the market by a wide margin and energy was the only sector within the S&P 500 that generated a positive share price return in 2022. Consequently, there have been increasing questions about the ESG’s relevance amid changing market conditions and how funds will implement their commitments to invest “sustainably.” Is ESG investing suffering from growing pains or is the support wavering? In 2022, large money managers reduced their support for ESG-focused shareholder proposals and industry alliances? How will this impact energy transition investments? Will the focus on energy security and affordability accelerate investments in hydrocarbons and slow down investments in clean energies? How should funding for mitigation and adaptation be mobilized for emerging economies? What regulatory oversight do you support or recommend to prevent “greenwashing”?

Tuesday, 7 March

  • 12:30pm - 01:00pm (CST) / 07/mar/2023 06:30 pm - 07/mar/2023 07:00 pm

    Why Carbon Is Not the Enemy
    Energy Transition/Climate & Sustainability
    While it is understood that emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, cause global warming, discussion continues about decarbonization and a “post-carbon economy.” With carbon the most abundant element in the universe, it is everywhere--oil in our cars, the DNA in our cells, the cattle in our fields and in our soil. The bonds of carbon chains hold energy, and when they are broken that stored energy is released and carbon dioxide is emitted. How do we change the conversation around carbon, from being seen as an enemy to a resource?