Press Release
Rivertop Renewables Announces Breakthrough Technology for Commercial Production of Renewable Chemicals
Company’s process enables scalable, cost-effective production of safe, non-toxic and biodegradable chemicals and products
CONTACT: Jaime Quick
Scoville PR for Rivertop
(206) 229-5183
(November 18, 2009) MISSOULA, Mt. -- Rivertop Renewables, a Montana-based renewable chemicals company, today unveiled its breakthrough technology to produce non-toxic, biodegradable chemicals in a scalable and cost-effective manner. Rivertop’s technology produces glucaric acid, which has been recognized by the Department of Energy (DOE) as one of the top 12 “building block chemicals” that can be converted to a number of high-value, bio-based chemicals or materials.
Glucaric acid is a sugar-based acid created by oxidizing glucose, the most economical and abundant sugar on the planet. Rivertop plans to use its biodegradable and non-toxic glucaric acid initially in products such as corrosion inhibitors found in road salts, as well as concrete admixtures which strengthen concrete, reducing consumption of this energy-intensive industrial mainstay.
Rivertop is also developing a detergent builder to replace phosphates found in many of today’s household cleaners. This biodegradable chemical will protect water quality and compete on price and sustainability metrics with phosphates and petrochemicals by reducing disposal and remediation costs.
With its glucaric acid, Rivertop will initially target several submarkets of the more than $2 trillion chemical industry. Replacing phosphates in detergents alone represents a $9 billion market opportunity.
Current alternatives to glucaric acid are petroleum-based chemicals or phosphates, which are not only tied to the volatile pricing of oil and phosphate, but also create by-products that have harsh environmental impacts.
“Rivertop is answering the call of consumers who increasingly prefer environmentally safe and sustainable products,” said Dr. Don Kiely, Founder and Chairman of Rivertop. “Our technology creates an economical, safe and sustainable solution that not only meets the needs of consumers, but also addresses pending regulatory penalties associated with the use of petroleum-based chemicals and other toxic chemicals in numerous consumer products.”
Rivertop’s proprietary oxidation technology can produce glucaric acid and other building block chemicals at an economical price and at commercial scale. Rivertop has refined the oxidation of nitric acid into a catalytic process that reduces the amount of needed nitric acid, minimizes the production of waste, and increases the yield of valuable end-use products. The oxidation platform is adaptable to feedstocks beyond glucose such as sucrose and xylose.
Rivertop’s technology is based on more than 10 years of research at the University of Montana by company founder and industry pioneer Dr. Don Kiely. Over the course of hundreds of experiments, Kiely and his team developed the company’s Progressive Chemistry™ approach to producing biodegradable chemicals from renewable resources in abundant quantity and at a low cost.
Rivertop was recently chosen as one of three winners of the 2009 Rocky Mountain Clean Tech Open, the nation’s premier business plan competition for clean tech startups. The company was also one of a small group of clean tech companies selected nationwide to present its business case at the National Renewable Energy Lab’s 22nd Annual Industry Growth Forum in Denver, Colorado.
About Rivertop Renewables
Based in Missoula, Montana, Rivertop Renewables is innovating a new category of science – Progressive Chemistry. Merging proven science with renewable resources, Rivertop Renewables is creating an abundant and economical supply of sustainable and non-toxic chemicals and bioproducts. Rivertop products are biodegradable and built from renewable plant sugars. More information is available at the website www.rivertop.com.