Startup turning natural gas into liquid fuels

America is awash in natural gas, thanks to the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. And now a San Francisco startup company, Siluria Technologies, has a new way to turn that gas into chemicals, jet fuel and gasoline, The Houston Chronicle reports. The ability to make liquid fuels from natural gas has existed since the 1920s. But up until now it hasn’t been cheap, requiring high heat and pressure to work. Siluria’s technology needs less heat and less energy—and therefore costs less. The company is gearing up to build its first demonstration plant. And it has hired a new chief executive officer with deep experience in the chemical industry to guide Siluria out of the lab and into the marketplace. “There’s going to be this long period of time when we have this excess gas,” says Edward Dineen, the company’s new CEO. “If you believe that, and I do, then having technologies that give you better options for that gas would make sense.” Dineen most recently served as CEO of LS9, a renewable fuel and chemical company in South San Francisco. He also held executive positions at LyondellBasell Industries and Arco Chemical Co. Siluria has raised $66 million in venture capital to date, from such investors as Bright Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Lux Capital. “The key challenge for us now is scaling up,” Dineen says. “This is certainly a technology that has global applications. The full story can be found here.