Written by Steve Beyer, Director of Business Development for Re:Build Optimation.
In the Re:Build family of companies, technologies are grouped into segments that form the key markets to which we provide engineering and manufacturing services. One of our core segments is Cleantech. It represents one of the highest-growth areas in Re:Build and in the domestic economy and technology space. At Optimation it is the largest sector of our work and looks to hold that position for the foreseeable future.
Segmentation: Other market segments such as chemical, medical device, food, and pharmaceutical industries, continue to be significant elements of our business footprint and experience. Yet the dynamic and compelling aspects of environmental consciousness, energy sustainability, and governmental incentives and regulatory policies are spurring major investment and capital spending in Cleantech.
Cleantech encompasses many technologies and takes many forms. The major fields of Cleantech at Optimation fall into several categories—hydrogen, solar, green hydrocarbons, and electrification. Other areas include wind, hydro, and bioenergy. All of these are significant markets unto themselves and taken together compose a major body of work at Optimation and the Re:Build companies. Specialized supply chain knowledge, engineering and fabrication best practices, and safety guidelines are captured in the organizational knowledge that cuts across all these sectors and are value-add portions of our services.
Core Targets: Two of the business areas are tightly coupled with a few unique twists. Hydrogen, the most plentiful element in the universe, is being harnessed for a wide variety of applications in many forms and functions. The technologies of electrolysis and electricity generation using fuel cells are already transforming our 21st-century landscape. Buses, trucks, backup power, port vehicles, and more are already tapping into the clean power of H2 as we learn to more safely, efficiently, and economically generate power replacing other less “clean” sources. Soon our cars, planes, air taxis, and even the power grid itself, our nation’s central nervous system and critical infrastructure, will have a large hydrogen component.
Broadly speaking, hydrogen and electrification are united. Processes mentioned above and their applications generally result in electricity for electric vehicles, and the like, which is then in large part capable of being stored in batteries. In Re:Build’s and Optimation’s experience batteries (and energy storage in general) capture the essence of the near-term transition from our existing energy markets paradigm to a cleaner future, which is likely to be nearly all hydrogen- and solar-based. Being able to store and hold electricity produced from these key sectors of H2 and solar extends the value of their service and offers features such as portability and scale. Our work in developing equipment for the production and testing of such systems of fuel cells, and lithium-ion (among other technologies) batteries equip us to leverage cross-platform knowledge and science to the benefit of our clients’ projects.
What’s next? Solar and green hydrocarbons are making their way into the near-term mainstream now. Where solar energy production has previously been a largely foreign-produced technology still striving to reach major market acceptance here, Optimation is working with technologies to domestically produce more environmentally friendly and competitively priced cells and panels that can leapfrog foreign products, producing American jobs and yet more domestic energy independence. Green hydrocarbons, or the hybridization of fuel types such as natural gas, petroleum, methane, etc. are being processed into cleaner-burning fuels such as methanol to decarbonize waste fuels and other sources (think of flare gas from wells) while leveraging the currently dominant and massive infrastructure that we have built up over the past century and a half. Extracting more clean energy from “dirty” sources allows us to scrub the environment while simultaneously producing more of the energy that the economy and our lifestyles require. Tremendous innovation and brainpower are going into these evolutions and will ease the migration from fossil fuels to cleantech.
How to Engage: If your business is in energy production or storage, the experts at Optimation and Re:Build are valuable team members and additions for technical and strategic support. Our decades of experience and hundreds of skilled people will lead and support your initiatives no matter the market segment. Contact us via https://optimation.us/contact-us.
Automotive Application Example
Hydrogen Test Equipment
