In a much-talked about move within the US energy space, Shell's former vice president of energy transition and head of capital projects and turnarounds for the Americas has left the oil giant and joined a relatively young circular carbon startup.
LanzaTech Global, a carbon capture and transformation company, confirmed that Aura Cuellar has joined as Executive Vice President of Growth and Strategic Projects.
LanzaTech captures carbon emissions and pollution from industries and uses a microbe to convert them into the building blocks used to make everyday materials, including sustainable fuels, packaging, and textiles.
In October 2022, LanzaTech announced a funding partnership with Brookfield Renewable to build additional commercial facilities. The funding will be provided through the Brookfield Global Transition Fund, which the company claims is the largest private fund in the world focused on the energy transition.
"With the appointment of Cuellar, who has a record of running and implementing large scale capital projects for the refining and chemicals sectors, LanzaTech installs a global executive with seasoned project management, construction, and commercial negotiation experience to accelerate deployment of projects and capital in partnership with Brookfield," the company explained.
"The creation of a team around Cuellar is expected to fast track growth and bring additional revenue to the newly listed company by accelerating capital deployment from Brookfield.
Prior to joining LanzaTech, Aura Cuellar most recently served as Vice President of Energy Transition for Shell in the United States. Originally hired into an engineering position, Cuellar advanced her 24+ year tenure at Shell across various senior executive roles in downstream manufacturing.
LanzaTech's Natalie Adomait, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of Transition Investing, said that “with Aura at the helm of this infrastructure initiative, we look forward to continuing the work Brookfield has begun with LanzaTech on our journey toward a circular carbon economy.”
Originally from Colombia, Cuellar holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Civil Engineering from Seattle University, an MBA from Western Washington University, and recently finished Executive General Management studies at INSEAD and Harvard’s Women on Boards Program.
