July 28, 2023
Hello, friends. We wanted to take the opportunity to publish a blog post that pulls back the curtain on our recent brand refresh and the rationale behind the decision to change our name from Alder Fuels to Alder Renewables. We hope you like it.
To find out more about what we do and how we do it, check out our brand-new website.
First, we produce a renewable platform–we call it ARC (Alder Renewable Crude). ARC unleashes a diverse range of end-use renewable products. An effective way to think about our offering is one renewable platform; many renewable products.
Second, as a result, we felt that Alder Fuels was no longer emblematic of who we are and what we do. We chose Alder Renewables because we wanted to retain the spirit of the original brand and the ethos of sustainability that is the heartbeat of our operations, while better describing our core offering.
We added Renewables because that is what we do: We empower the creation of a range of renewable products; products that are central to the collective effort to decarbonize critical parts of our society.
Like all strong mission statements, we wanted ours to contain both the what and the why behind our company's existence.
Our mission at Alder Renewables is to replace fossil-based products and help rebalance our relationship with the planet.
The core of what we offer as a business is a platform unleashing renewable alternatives that replace fossil-based products. ARC, specifically, offers unrivaled optionality to refiners and empowers them to create sustainable aviation fuel, renewable chemicals, and low-carbon to carbon-negative marine and ground transportation fuels.
Why we do it is also critical. We do it because we want to play our part in bringing our natural ecosystems back into some sort of sustainable balance. We want to part of the solution. By harnessing sustainable feedstocks and catalyzing the creation of a diverse range of renewable products, we believe we can make a lasting societal impact.
We have an urgent and collective responsibility to reduce the excess amounts of carbon we currently emit–that is where Alder Renewables and its proprietary technology come in. Our bold mission will animate everything that we do.
We spent significant time working through our values and finalizing them. The Alder Renewables team operates at the forefront of renewable fuel production and the technology development underpinning the clean energy transition.
We are scientists, technologists, researchers, engineers, project managers, marketers, and commercial leaders. We undertook this extensive process because we wanted partners, collaborators, investors, supporters, and customers to better understand how we work and what they can expect when they engage with Alder Renewables. We will hold ourselves accountable to these values in everything that we do:
This list reflects our culture, the speed and demands of our startup ethos, the spirit of sustainability that guides our work, and the open and transparent approach we take to the development of our products.
We have refreshed our brand identity because we believe evolution was necessary. We also wanted to create artwork that better encapsulates who we are and what we do. We wanted it to be clean and clear, and to demonstrate a singular vision. The bold colors and blends of jade and green reflect our commitment to sustainability, and our mission to push the boundaries of what is possible in a decarbonized society.
Check out our site and the videos that describe what we do and how we do it—they will give you a behind-the-scenes look at our technological development and the team that is core to the Alder Renewables story. Here's a snapshot:
Right now, we are hard at work on our journey towards commercialization, including developing our pilot facility and moving to a new lab space where our team will further advance our technology. Track our progress here. In the meantime, please get in touch with us: hello@alderrenewables.com
Thank you for reading. Onwards.
Team Alder Renewables
July 25, 2023
This week, Alder reached a key milestone in the scale-up of Alder Renewable Crude (ARC) production by commissioning a pilot skid at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Alder’s proprietary technology fractionates fast pyrolysis oil into energy-dense, low-carbon to carbon-negative ARC that can be further transformed into high-value renewable fuels and chemicals using existing commercial-scale refining infrastructure. This skid, which we are calling Pioneer, has been designed and assembled alongside our partners at NREL. Pioneer integrates all unit operations of Alder’s proprietary technology into a continuous process, with a production capacity of one barrel per day of ARC. The skid design and execution were informed by hundreds of bench-scale experiments, continuous pilot and scale-up experiments, and process modeling simulations with NREL and Honeywell UOP.
The first step of commissioning is operating Pioneer with non-hazardous liquid; in this case, water. This step is important because it gives us an opportunity to prove the functionality of all equipment using a non-hazardous fluid. Starting complex testing processes like this one typically comes with unexpected challenges, and it is best practice to troubleshoot and resolve these issues before introducing additional complexities and cost associated with reactive liquids. It also allows us to learn and prepare for “prime time” as we approach fully autonomous ARC production runs, like a commercial refinery. This is an incredibly exciting time for the Alder’s technology team. Many are anxious, including the authors of this post, to press the start button after months of reviewing drawings, acquiring materials, and researching every phase of its development.
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