San Francisco, CA, April 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kiverdi, Inc., a privately held company that makes sustainable oils and oil-derived chemicals converted from carbon-rich waste, announced today that its Carbon EngineeringTM platform won the coveted 2012 Edison Award in Energy and Sustainability.
Kiverdi has developed a biochemical process for the capture and transformation of waste carbon into sustainable oils and advanced chemicals without requiring sourcing and storing repurposed food staples such as sugar, corn, palm, or soy. With Kiverdi's Carbon EngineeringTM platform, proprietary microbes are able to transform carbon from industrial flue gases or syngas from manufacturing waste, wood waste, or landfills into advanced chemicals. The chemicals produced can serve as a sustainable alternative to the petrochemicals and oleochemicals that are used to manufacture a wide range of industrial and consumer products, ranging from plastics and detergents to fuels and fuel additives.
Kiverdi is addressing the growing demand for cost-competitive, sustainably sourced products that have a low-carbon footprint and that do not compete with food. Approximately 50% of consumer products, for example, are currently produced with palm oil and palm kernel oil. Kiverdi's biochemical process is able to produce oils that can serve as direct replacements for these and other oils without risks to rainforests or food supplies.
Edison Award nominees were judged by a panel of more than 3,000 leading business executives including leaders in the fields of product development, design, engineering, science and medicine. The nominees were judged on a set of evaluation criteria built around the following innovation metrics: Concept, Value, Impact and Delivery. Kiverdi was awarded a bronze Edison Award in the category of Energy and Sustainability.
"We are thrilled to have our innovative Carbon EngineeringTM platform recognized by the Edison Awards," said Kiverdi CEO Lisa Dyson, Ph.D. "We very much share their emphasis on the value, impact and delivery of innovation for the benefit of industry, communities, and the planet."
The company also announced that Dr. Dyson will deliver the company presentation on Tuesday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) as part of the Cleantech Investor Sessions at the BIO 9th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Orlando, Florida April 29-May 2 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center.
About Kiverdi
Kiverdi is a privately held, San Francisco-based advanced chemicals company that is transforming carbon-rich waste and syngas into high-value, lower cost oils that are used in everyday products. Kiverdi is the only bio-based chemical company converting syngas into palm oil and other oleochemical equivalents. Kiverdi's advanced oils are designed to reduce reliance on petroleum, lower carbon dioxide emissions, and realistically meet the growing demand by consumers for sustainably-sourced, cost competitive products with a low carbon footprint. For more information, visit www.kiverdi.com.
About Carbon-Rich Waste
Utilizing carbon-rich waste has a number of beneficial qualities. It is not subject to the wild price fluctuations, supply disruptions, or geopolitics associated with fossil-fuel-based petrochemicals and does not require expensive and environmentally invasive extraction resources. Carbon-rich waste is abundant. Landfill waste is one local source. Another readily available source is industrial waste like scraps from papermaking, milling, and construction. Methane from sewage and livestock production is one more alternative. Carbon waste is commonly buried (landfills), burned (incinerators), or vented as a gas into the atmosphere (methane and CO2). Kiverdi can use carbon waste as a feedstock to produce high-value, lower cost, and sustainable oils and oil-derived chemicals, which are used in everyday products, such as detergents, plastics and fuel additives.
About The Edison Awards
The Edison Awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) and have been recognized as America's innovation awards that take the time-tested characteristics of innovation from earlier visionaries and write a new chapter in American innovation history. The 2012 Edison Awards are sponsored by Nielsen, Discovery Communications, Science Channel, USA Today, CSRware and applepeak. Winners were announced on April 26, 2012 at the Capitale in New York, New York. For more information, visit www.edisonawards.com.
About the BIO 9th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing
BIO's 9th annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing is the world's largest industrial biotechnology conference for business leaders, investors, academics and policymakers in biofuels, biobased products, renewable chemicals, synthetic biology, food ingredients and biomass. The Congress will host sessions for top executives of eight companies to make formal 25-minute presentations on their technology development and business models to an elite audience of investors and analysts. The Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida April 29-May 2 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center. For more information, visit http://www.bio.org/events/conferences/welcome-2012-bio-world-congresshttp:/www.bio.org/worldcongress/.