As we search for ways to further limit our environmental impact, food waste remains a serious concern with a growing population. Americans produced 38 million tons of food waste in 2014, with an accompanying 34 million tons of yard trimmings, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

American Organic Energy has its roots in Long Island Compost, a firm with over thirty years’ experience managing Long Island’s and New York’s organic waste. Brothers Charles, Dominic and Arnold Vigliotti entered composting after successful careers in waste management. “This was a period of time prior to any material recycling in this country,” CEO Charles Vigliotti recalls.

As the company expanded, the brothers learned not only to compost properly but also to turn organic waste and lawn clippings into green products such as mulch and topsoil. To Vigliotti, it was a no-brainer to use the waste in this manner; “If you don’t have a use for it at the end, you’ve wasted your time.”

Out of space
The growing company began fielding new requests for food waste disposal, which, despite new state and municipal requirements on recycling in the 1980s, remained a problem. There was simply no space anywhere in New York to dispose of food waste, requiring it to be sent as far away as Virginia. “It is our feeling that that’s just crazy,” Vigliotti comments. “It’s the wrong way for a 21^st century society to handle its waste.”

Despite the brothers’ expertise in composting yard waste, food waste was a new kind of problem, Vigliotti says. “We found that we really couldn’t handle meats, fish, oils, things like that with our existing outdoor wind-row technology approach.”

In search of a solution, the brothers learned about anaerobic digestion. This biological process uses bacteria to break down organic waste, producing biogas (which is mostly methane) that is then used to produce clean, renewable energy. Anaerobic digestion requires no oxygen or ventilation, so the heat produced by the bacterial breakdown creates a greenhouse effect. With enough insulation, the process becomes virtually self-sustaining and is unaffected by outside weather factors, unlike solar and wind power.

The brothers decided this was the way forward, and American Organic Energy was born.

Dedicated family
Today, both Long Island Compost and American Organic Energy remain family-run businesses, with Charles as CEO, brother Arnold as Senior Vice President and Director of Operations, and Charles’s daughter Gia as Director of Sales.

Long Island Compost provides the family with solid revenue streams from its fertilizer and compost, product lines the Vigliottis have offered for decades. Long Island Compost has been involved in such high-profile projects as the World Trade Center Memorial Garden and New York’s Green Roof Initiative, which installs green roofs, porous parking lots and green sidewalks throughout the city. When complete, these developments will recapture 40 percent of the city’s rainwater runoff and save taxpayers an estimated $2.4 billion over the next twenty years.

But American Organic Energy is doing something even more ambitious.

The company’s objective is to build and manage an 11-acre anaerobic digestion plant. When complete, American Organic Energy’s new facility will process 180,000 tons of food waste per year, plus an additional 10,000 tons of yard waste and 30,000 tons of fats, oils and greases (known collectively as ‘FOG’).

Estimates indicate the plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the New York metropolitan area by 85,000 tons annually, eliminate an estimated 1.4 million miles per year currently travelled by trucks on Long Island Region roads, and produce over 500,000 mmBtu of renewable natural gas per year that will be used to help meet the natural gas shortage on Long Island.

Although similar plants do exist in other parts of North America – in Toronto, Ontario, Edmonton, Alberta, and San Luis Obispo County, California, for instance – nothing on this scale has ever been tried. As Vigliotti relates, the company needed to build on a massive scale if it hoped to have any impact on the Greater New York area.

“We happen to be geographically located in the heart of over 10 million people,” he explains simply. “Every single one of them eats food.” Anything smaller than the plant’s current scale would hardly make a difference in America’s most populous city. “If we were going to build a facility,” Vigliotti remarks, “we were going to make sure this would be a facility that could have a material impact on how much waste is going into landfills.”

Bringing the regulators on board
It’s been a long time coming, with this project having been in development since 2011. American Organic Energy has used the Vigliotti’s connections with private industry to form solid partnerships with other companies such as Suez, Air Liquide, General Electric, and Scotts Miracle-Gro. But the largest hurdle, Vigliotti relates, has come from getting all the various regulatory agencies on board with this idea, particularly on such a massive scale.

“They don’t handle ‘new’ very well,” he remarks. “They do what they do very well, but ‘new?’ You’ve got to bring them along, so it was a learning experience for everybody involved.” Groundbreaking is now scheduled for December 2019, with an anticipated December 2020 completion date.

These regulatory agencies are now providing significant financial and technological support. While most of the project development is being funded by Long Island Compost’s own profits, the project did receive $400,000 in state tax funds and a $1.35 million grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA). This was the agency which helped further Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Green New Deal program.

The Governor on side
Having New York State’s government on side, Vigliotti remarks, greatly helped the project get going. “The support of the governor’s office was absolutely critical in us being able to move the other regulatory agencies,” he says, noting that this leadership was necessary to further this and other renewable energy projects. “Albany and the governor’s office have been extraordinarily supportive, and we are so appreciative of what this governor [did] on our project and environmentally throughout the state.”

Once it is properly harnessed, the possibilities presented by anaerobic digestion of food waste cannot be overstated. Far from simply providing renewable natural gas to the local pipeline to meet requirements on Long Island, the process can also provide vehicle fuel and clean, purified water. The primary by-product from anaerobic digestion, known as digestate, can be converted into organic fertilizer and compost. But perhaps most importantly, anaerobic digestion can significantly reduce methane emissions into our atmosphere and pollutants in our water. With a steady source of energy input through food and other organic waste, anaerobic digestion is a bold new step towards renewable, sustainable energy.

Getting it built
Once American Organic Energy’s anaerobic digestion plant is completed next year, it remains to be seen how this will affect renewable energy policy in New York and the United States as a whole. While the Vigliottis remain fully committed to this project, they also remain focused on the immediate future. “Let’s get the first one built,” Charles remarks, “and then we’ll see where we go with more.” Still, he remains cautiously optimistic. “We can get this one built, and show the world what we can do here, and look at exporting it to municipalities all across the country.”

However, Vigliotti makes it clear that the facility will be cost-effective, requiring neither significant technological advancement nor large government tax increases – thus refuting a common argument from renewable energy naysayers. “Our waste generators will not have to pay any more than what they’re paying right now to dispose of their material, even though it’s a very expensive proposition.” Once this facility proves anaerobic digestion is feasible for a large population, changing economies of scale will inevitably make future facilities even more affordable.

Poised for change
Vigliotti and his family all see the facility as a win-win. From reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions to curtailing food waste and producing clean, renewable energy and water, the anaerobic digestion plant is poised to change how renewable energy is produced in the United States. While he remains noncommittal about the plant’s impact on energy policy, Vigliotti is adamant that the current system is non-sustainable. “Taking food waste and sticking it in a hole in the ground is a barbaric way for a 21^st century society to handle its waste,” he says, regardless of its origin. “It’s a dumb way to handle things. There are better ways to handle it.”

This cycles back to the reason Vigliotti and his brothers entered waste management all those years ago. While he and his family consider that creating renewable energy sources is a meaningful goal in and of itself, they are also continually focused on improvement. “Every day, we’re striving to get better at what we do,” he remarks, “to process better, to be better neighbors, to be better citizens.”

With a simple paradigm shift, he and his company – and other similar companies – can view, handle, and use waste not as a burden, but as an opportunity to improve our planet. “We can all use that. That’s all good stuff.”

The post Massive Innovation: American Organic Energy Uses Anaerobic Digestion to Reduce New York’s Food Waste<p class="company">American Organic Energy</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Established in 2011, Ceres is the brainchild of founder Marc Plinke, a visionary in the field of sustainable living. Plinke built a house that was intended to have net-zero energy draw from the public power grid and exceeded his expectations by developing such an efficient design that the house’s energy generation ended up being net-positive and delivering power back into the grid. As part of this project, Plinke designed a greenhouse so that he could grow food. Ceres evolved from this experience.

Recently, the company’s advanced greenhouse design has found a home in cannabis production. Because cannabis is a relatively new industry, producers are looking for a way to start small but have their facilities prepared for growth. Ceres has designed its greenhouses to be modular, and that is precisely the type of growing system that cannabis companies are in the market for.

“You’re able to start smaller. As you grow, you’re expanding on the outside of the existing grow room. The last thing you do is put a door into a wall and take that new greenhouse into production. That allows people with a smaller budget to start small and expand when they’re making money. That’s been a very successful approach for us,” says Chief Executive Officer and Director Chris Uhlig.

The cannabis industry is booming, and investors are looking to companies like Ceres to develop new ways to improve quality and productivity rates. The company’s engineering expertise has enabled it to thrive in this space, and cannabis-related investment has accelerated its growth. This investment has driven innovation in general, and by concentrating on developing products for cannabis producers, Ceres has created and refined new solutions that can eventually be made available for non-cannabis related crops.

The new EcoLoop™ Geothermal system combined with Ceres’ patented greenhouse design is a noteworthy development, particularly for the cannabis sector. One of the biggest difficulties for cannabis producers is that the stability of the growing environment directly affects the quality of the crop. To grow a high-quality product, temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels need to be carefully controlled, and those values need to be adjusted at various stages of growth.

“You might have a temperature of seventy-five degrees and sixty percent humidity in one greenhouse; in the next greenhouse over, you might have eighty degrees and fifty percent humidity. So, in order to control that, you need a very effective HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system,” says Uhlig.

Currently, the industry standard is chiller-based cooling systems. The greenhouse’s heat is stored in water, which gets pumped outside. Chillers are then used to release that heat into the air, cool it down, and bring the cooler water back inside. These chillers use compressors, which can be very expensive to run.

The EcoLoop™ system uses the soil under the greenhouse to store heat when the ambient temperature within the space is high and extracts that heat when it is cool. Instead of using chillers, this geothermal climate control process is much more energy-efficient and much less expensive. According to Uhlig, the EcoLoop™ system can be fifty to sixty-five percent more efficient than the most common HVAC systems. Higher efficiency means spending much less on utility costs for the same performance.

Further, most greenhouses have HVAC systems that need to be suspended from the ceiling. Not only does this take up space that could be used for vertical growth, but these machines create a lot of shade. In the EcoLoop™ design, the HVAC equipment is behind the north wall of the greenhouse, connected through a wall vent, so it does not take up any grow space or create any shade.

The EcoLoop™ system generates a highly stable environment that is perfect for cannabis production. “We’re focused on cannabis because there’s a high upfront investment. So your return on that investment has to come through a crop that makes it worthwhile – a crop where the initial investment creates so much more value through the refined environment. That’s what cannabis does,” explains Uhlig.

Because cannabis crops use a great deal of water, Ceres has integrated water reclamation system that can recycle and reuse ninety percent or more of the water used in production. In a typical vented greenhouse, the water transpired by the crop and the moisture created in evaporative cooling systems is lost through ventilation.

The Ceres EcoLoop™ can recapture and reuse nearly all of that water in a sealed greenhouse. Water reclaim systems can also be designed to capture the wasted irrigation water from some grow systems in order to reclaim unused nutrients. Particularly for hydroponic systems, which release water continually, this can have a great impact on overall operational expenses. Water reclamation is one of the many systems that make the sealed Ceres greenhouses so successful.

For a typical vented greenhouse, a producer can reasonably expect to generate roughly one hundred grams of cannabis per square foot of greenhouse space per year. In a sealed greenhouse, this number doubles to two hundred grams or more. When accounting for the additional space allowed by moving the HVAC equipment outside, this becomes even more substantial. “If you can double the yield and create higher quality because you have a stable environment, the upfront investment is a no-brainer,” says Uhlig.

For comparison, Ceres looked at a company running a traditional greenhouse. For a $5.5 million investment, the company built a 34,000-square-foot facility that yields roughly an $8 million per year profit. When they ran the same numbers for a Ceres greenhouse, the upfront investment for 34,000 square feet would cost approximately $8.5 million. However, for $3 million more in upfront investment, the return would be around $18 million per year in profit, with every other factor staying the same.

Another flagship product is the Ground to Air Heat Transfer or GAHT™ greenhouse system. This uses the ground under the greenhouse to store and release heat energy, but because it works with air, environmental parameters are less stable than with the EcoLoop™. As a result, this system has a far lower upfront cost and is better suited to crops that do not require a perfectly controlled environment such as hemp or garden vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers.

“We have two systems that differentiate us from everyone else that’s out there. We’ve been doing the GAHT™ system for eight or nine years now, and we’re getting inquiries from other greenhouse companies to install that system. And the EcoLoop™ is a completely new system that there has never been anything like before,” says Uhlig.

Ceres’ work to bring new ideas and technologies to the marketplace has resulted in significant growth. It is now working with companies from Canada, where the climate presents issues for licensed producers, as well as Greece. Earlier this year, Ceres attended a greenhouse convention in Helsinki, Finland, to learn about some of the challenges and solutions involved in growing food in permafrost regions. In response to what it learned there, the company is adapting some of its existing ideas to work in those conditions.

Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing sector, and innovations in greenhouse technology are changing the way producers grow. By focusing on the cannabis industry, Ceres has been able to capitalize on the influx of investment to build smart and sustainable greenhouse solutions.

The post Smart, Sustainable Greenhouse Solutions<p class="company">Ceres Greenhouse Solutions</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Some businesses are simple businesses – finished goods are shipped from manufacturer to warehouse or distributor. Job done. But mining, oil and gas, and other resource sector companies face many more logistical challenges, including extracting materials from hard to access locations, and transportation by road, rail and water to the processing facility.

Adding complexity is the need to keep costs down, all the while reducing carbon emissions – important considering the pressures on businesses to go green – and lowering environmental impact by hauling loads shorter distances in an energy-efficient way.

Embracing technology
As with many other industries, mining, oil and gas, and pulp and paper have gone through large technological shifts in the past few years. And like other sectors, resource-based businesses are feeling the pinch, striving to lower expenditures, boost efficiencies, and increase profits simultaneously.

An important part of succeeding in this is using the latest digital technology to enhance logistics.

According to Productivity in mining operations: Reversing the downward trend, a report from U.S. based management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, mining companies are changing their direction towards increasing productivity, and away from volume growth.

“Worldwide mining operations are as much as 28 percent less productive today [2015] than a decade ago,” says the McKinsey MineLens Productivity Index (MPI). “Importantly, our research also shows that some mining companies are already turning around productivity performance, suggesting room for improvement throughout the industry.”

According to the report, mining productivity goals took a back seat to the meeting of demand in the 2000s. To address this issue, the MPI was developed to address areas that are within the control of mining companies, including capital, labour and non-labour operating expenditures.

Recommendations to increase declines in productivity, according to MPI, include ensuring mines have effective management operating systems, making operational excellence a priority, and adopting new technologies.

This includes being more receptive to innovation in other industries and making “better use of advanced analytics to harness the potential of the vast amounts of data generated in typical modern mining operations to boost productivity improvement initiatives. Doing this will require a broadening of the responsibilities of operations leaders and tighter integration with other corporate functions.”

Benefits of improved logistics
Using digital technologies and MPI (McKinsey MineLens Productivity Index), performance at individual mines can be tracked. While this requires capital expenditures, benefits such as greater output and enhanced productivity are measured with greater accuracy, an investment which pays off.

In fact, some estimates predict that mining companies can achieve net freight savings of 8 to 12 percent by optimizing efficiencies in their existing freight networks. Large logistics companies with a global presence also have internal methodologies, ongoing staff training, and adhere to verified quality management systems such as ISO 9001.

To accomplish logistics goals requires end-to-end solutions incorporating technology and methodology. To achieve this, mining and mineral companies can use trained employees internally, or retain the services of a 3PL (third-party logistics) company.

Experts in key areas including transportation of goods and warehousing, 3PLs offer many value-added services. Most times, mine sites are located hundreds of miles away from the nearest transportation, and require specialized carriers to handle loads specifically for them.

In this demanding and very specific environment, 3PLs use SAP (Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing), and database management systems like Oracle to monitor workloads.

Host of problems
A lack of carriers, or working with companies unfamiliar with the demands of mining, oil, gas, and other resource-sector operations can create a host of problems. These include unreliable service, not enough carrier capacity to handle large loads, and sky-high freight costs that come from having to pay truck drivers for inbound loads, and empty return vehicle trips.

Working with large 3PLs experienced in the resources sector – as opposed to freight-broker intermediaries who handle transportation – holds many benefits, as they have the expertise to identify and address potential issues such as delays.

3PLs also have business dealings with a base of pre-qualified transportation businesses including trucking companies, railroads, and shippers, and can draw from many companies to move materials at a competitive price.

Big 3PLs have the know-how to determine metrics to improve supply chains. This is extremely important for mining companies who use more than one type of transportation, such as trucks, flatbeds, rail, roads and barges to transport materials to ports and processing facilities.

In-depth knowledge of freight management and logistics is vital to coordinate the movement of product, including potentially hazardous materials, from one location to another via different carriers.

More than moving minerals
Mining, oil and gas exploration and other resource industries need to be constantly moving product to stay competitive and stay in business.

From drilling equipment during the exploration and feasibility phase to spare parts, food, shelter and storage-facility construction, personal protective equipment, clothing and equipment, logistics is vital to ensuring resource sector companies remain profitable.

Just as importantly, logistics is needed during the decommissioning phase, when mining operations come to a close, and reclamation waste, and long-term monitoring comes into effect.

Working with established logistics companies also means mining and other resource-sector businesses can track the movement of goods with greater precision through technology like radio-frequency. Better known simply as RFID, tags or stickers with microchips – sometimes equipped with batteries – are attached to items to track their exact whereabouts, and provide other information like serial, stock or batch numbers.

Along with greater capabilities to handle large volumes of data and materials, big 3PLs tend to be more familiar with other areas impacting logistics, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. A U.S. law passed in 1977, the FCPA prohibits American companies and individuals from bribing foreign officials, including oversight of third parties such as consultants.

The myriad other benefits that come from working with experienced logistics companies include speedy delivery. If a key piece of equipment breaks down, offshore oil platforms, fracking operations and mine sites stand to lose thousands of dollars every hour they are idle.

To address this, larger logistics companies work with a network of aircraft and trucking firms performing ‘hotshot’ services, picking-up and delivering parts quickly to ensure operations are down for as short a time as possible.

Inflection point
The resources sector is at a point where it cannot afford to lose money through poor logistics, lack of productivity, or any other avoidable inefficiency. According to the McKinsey MineLens Productivity Index (MPI), the mining industry is at an inflection point, “in which digital technologies have the potential to unlock new ways of managing variability and enhancing productivity.”

Specifically, the technological areas include data, computational power, and connectivity; analytics and intelligence; human-machine interaction; and digital-to-physical conversion.

“Taken together, these technologies enable a fundamental shift in the way mining works — a shift marked both by harnessing the flow of information to reduce variability in decision making, and by deploying more centralized, mechanized operations to reduce variability in execution,” says MPI.

Although logistics in the resource sector are challenging, even smaller- to medium-sized mines can benefit from working with established logistics companies to streamline their operations, increase productivity and turnaround times, improve safety, and simply come up with better end-to-end solutions.

The post The Long Haul<p class="company">Logistics in the Resource Sector</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Texas-based, family-owned Axium Solar has devoted itself to creating quality renewable energy solutions readily accessible to consumers since 2006, when founder Bob Kendrick — owner of Axium Electric, an energy management business — constructed his own eco-friendly home, complete with a solar-panel system. The construction intrigued his neighbors enough that Bob not only educated them about renewable energy, but extended his own company into the solar services business.

“Out of a concern for the future of our kids and environmental climate change, and being good stewards of the environment and our world, Bob decided he wanted to go solar at his house and make it a net zero application,” says Axium Vice President and General Manager Eric Cotney. “He started researching the technology and decided he could do it himself, making his house run off renewable energy with a combination of wind and solar, while at same time getting into the solar business.”

These days, Axium employs a team of skilled renewable energy experts to work with owners, architects, engineers, and contractors during every phase of a project, from design through construction, encouraging consumers to exercise their ability to affect the future of this planet positively, emphasizing that “choices can change things.”

The early years saw Axium focused on the residential market, with quite a bit of servicing of those who wanted to go solar at their own homes, says Cotney.

“We then bid on and won a big commercial deal, and we gradually started transitioning our business to the commercial market. We still did both residential and commercial, but had a lot of success in the commercial side, making a name for ourselves in Dallas as one of the go-to companies for anyone wanting to go solar.”

The company now works exclusively in the commercial, industrial and utility markets, focusing on rooftop projects, carport systems, ground mounts, and also utility-scale solar farms. Axium performs projects turnkey and also as a subcontractor for the electrical scope. Axium will finish this year at 100MW of installed solar capacity, a significant milestone for the company.

“We do pretty much every single application that’s out there for solar, including covered parking and canopies,” says Owner and Construction Manager Derik Kendrick. “That’s our focus in the renewable industry.” Axium also works to align itself with other green industries, creating partnerships to help share and build awareness of clean, renewable energy.

“We prefer to work with customers from the very beginning of a project to help them design, doing all the engineering, procurement and construction,” says Cotney, “and then we also have a dedicated service team that allows us to continue the relationship with the customer and follow up with any necessary service.”

Mainly operating in the state of Texas, Axium is now branching out to other states, including Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana. But no matter where they provide their services, their dedication and passion for the industry remains paramount.

“The main thing is that we’re focused on helping as many people go solar as possible,” says Vanessa Green, Director of Operations. “We’re all very driven and passionate, and really care about what we do, and it reflects in the work that the rest of the team performs as well. Even the guys in the field are passionate about what they do. They work long hours sometimes, but they do it because they know that the end goal is good for the environment and everybody all around.”

Axium also prides itself on its diversity initiative, employing ten deaf workers in a number of different positions, starting three years ago with the hiring of the deaf nephew of a 10-year employee.

“Since then, we’ve hired his best friends, and then their friends and now we have them spread out all over different jobs, including two service guys, one in the north and one in south Texas,” says Kendrick. “We have key positions for deaf people in different types of jobs, and lots of employees have learned sign language. It’s become a whole deal within the company, like a little community all working together.”

Kendrick himself has become fluent enough that he can communicate with all the teams, running and managing the crews. “We’ve really adopted this culture,” adds Green.

“It’s a real personal commitment of his, doing what it takes to make this happen,” says Cotney. He adds that many employees have also taken classes on their own, learning enough sign language to communicate with deaf workers on the job. Last year Axium received the Medium Business Lex Friedman award, for businesses that hire disabled workers.

Axium’s growth and success in the industry as a whole definitely lies partly in its strong, unified workforce, where employees are devoted and dedicated to the product and its benefits.

“We’re also unique in the marketplace, because Axium has chosen to retain a large labor force,” says Cotney. “Whenever someone hires us, the work is predominantly done by Axium Solar employees. A lot of companies are sales companies or engineering and design companies, and they hire subcontractors. We feel we’re unique in that we do all of it.”

This means the quality of an installation is in the control of Axium itself, as it’s their team doing the work. Cotney stresses that not a lot of people in Texas have commercial and industrial experience that Axium has, in terms of number and scope of projects. “We’re unrivalled in terms of our experience and reputation out there.”

They’re also distinct in their ability to maintain company unity and communication, according to Green. “Often, as companies become corporate, they become isolated in their departments and don’t communicate with each other, and we’re not like that,” she says. “We’re one big team. If there’s a question about something we put our heads together and make ourselves stronger as a team. We look at all different angles of a project and what a client might want, to create cost and installation efficiency so we can meet our deadlines.”

As climate concerns continue to escalate, so will the need and desire for solar energy as a main source of power, but this, says Cotney, wasn’t always the case, especially in the beginning.

“It’s been great to see the growth in the solar industry. Initially, I was skeptical that we’d see the kind of growth that we’ve seen. It’s been really refreshing and exciting to be a part of the industry as a whole and see the widespread adoption that’s taking place,” he shares.

“Solar as experienced a significant drop in price and increase in efficiency over the past few years,” continues Cotney. “A dollar spent on solar technology goes much further today than it did even three years ago. When I started in the industry, many customers were willing to invest in solar even if the return on investment wasn’t necessarily that attractive. They were predominantly interested in investing in the future both as a hedge against rising energy costs and doing their part to create a better environment,” he explains.

“Now we still have the responsibility piece, but we’re also making financial sense, and we’re seeing a lot more adoption because it’s a viable supplementary technology that we’ve been doing — it’s even becoming a preferred technology in many cases. I never saw this coming to the scale it is now, but it’s exciting to be a part of this industry!”

Axium also maintains its commitment to taking care of customers by staying true to its word right from the start, even if that means a possible financial loss.

“Our reputation and our integrity in the marketplace is the most important thing, and we’re going to do the right thing for the customer,” says Cotney. “We often have that discussion with customers to make sure their expectations of the technology and market conditions line up with reality. We don’t want to do something that’s going to give Axium or the industry as a whole a bad name. This company is committed to that and I couldn’t work here if that wasn’t a core value.”

Axium also works hard to maintain its impeccable culture of safety, by enforcing higher than average qualifications and minimum requirements for all employees.

“Every day we have safety group chats with different topics across the company as a whole,” says Green. “We reinforce safety for experienced employees, and also teach new guys to stay safe and look out for each other along the way.”

The future continues to look bright for all environmentally responsible industries, and Cotney says that Axium has been riding that wave. “We’ve both created and had a lot of opportunities come our way that we’ve capitalized on. Plus, doing the right thing for people and doing a good job has made us the preferred partner for many of our existing customers. We seize the opportunities that come our way and capitalize on them,” he says. “That’s why we’ve grown. We’re seeing some markets open up for us that we don’t normally chase, and we see ourselves growing toward even larger projects and other markets in years to come.”

Knowing that your product is not only helping your customers, but making the world a better, cleaner place for future generations is a noble goal that ensures every Axium employee is proud to display the company name.

The post Running on Sunshine – Harnessing a Passion for Solar Sustainability<p class="company">Axium Solar</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Thanks to their renewable, clean and carbon-neutral fuel consumption, Biothermic’s complete indoor heating systems are exactly what environmentally aware consumers throughout Canada have been waiting for. And, as wood is inexpensive, the demand for the company’s products is growing at a significant rate.

When it comes to alternative heating sources, this company is literally leading the country’s heating industry out of the woods – with wood. According to Vince Rutter, co-founder of Biothermic, Canada’s leader in small-scale modern wood heating based in Thunder Bay and Haliburton, Ontario, wood as an energy source can – quite literally – change the future of heating. “As we need to reduce our carbon emissions into the atmosphere, we need to be looking at renewable energy sources. [Consumers] must acknowledge that climate change is a function of the amount of carbon that we emit when burning [single-use] fossil fuels,” he says.

Seeing the forest for the trees
While Rutter is an advocate of wood fuel, he is also an expert in tree care. In fact, this dynamic CEO is a professional forester, certified arborist and an honours undergraduate in Forestry Science from Lakehead University – which is why this cause is so close to his heart. “While carbon dioxide is emitted when you burn a tree, wood energy is carbon-neutral because you can regrow [the] tree and it will absorb carbon dioxide over its life,” Vince tells us.

As oil, gas, and coal are not renewable and do not have the capacity to clean the atmosphere at any point in their life cycles, wood – when managed correctly – is way up there with the cleanest of fuels nature can provide us with.

Barking up the right tree
With its laser focus on smart project planning and dedicated after-sales service, Biothermic takes the frustration out of installing and caring for top quality wood-burning heating systems for those who prefer long-term investments in good, solid technology that make sense both environmentally and financially. “Our clients are typically [early adopters and] pioneers in modern wood heating. We serve our clients with honesty, providing detailed whole-system planning and after-sales support,” says Vince. Any possible challenges are identified and dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Commercial clients are increasingly more interested in modern wood heating and therefore, it isn’t just homeowners who benefit from the company’s services. Biothermic’s portfolio is quite broad, with the team installing everything from district energy systems for entire towns to single boilers for home use. With Fröling biomass boilers from Austria as one of its central products, the company also provides its customers with thermal storage tanks, plumbing equipment, heat distribution equipment, chimneys, wood chippers and complete heating systems, as well as wood pellets and chips for larger clients.

Knocking on wood
With the Biothermic team in charge, there is no need to go out on a limb to get a heating system installed. The process is simple; commercial clients typically approach the company to discuss their heating needs for schools, warehouses or other large spaces. A detailed overview is done of the project’s scope in terms of budget, finance, heat load, fuel sources, installation site, size, and more. Once the plan is developed, a feasibility study is launched, covering engineering demands and other important details.

Once the groundwork is laid out, building commences and wood supply is carefully matched up with the boiler capacity. And, when Biothermic is not managing projects for its own clients, it supplies heating systems and other products to external project managers. Due to the nature of the product, the Biothermic team is well-seasoned in working with lengthy timeframes, as heating systems are typically large purchases that are planned and budgeted for well in advance.

New technology
In contrast to low-tech wood boilers, Biotech heating systems are far superior, offering clean, efficient and fully automated heating, giving modern wood heating all the sophistication that older systems lack. Because everyone’s heating needs differ, the company meets a significantly large range of heating demands that fall into three categories: fire heating systems fuelled by logs; another fuelled by wood pellets; and lastly, wood chip heating systems.

All of these award-winning systems are highly efficient while being easy to use, self-cleaning, and often self-fuelling. They are particularly popular for being incredibly quiet.

Experts in the woods
In search of a fresh challenge, Vince and his brother, Mike, founded the company in 2014. Mike Rutter brings his vast knowledge of hydronic heating and natural resource management with the Ontario government to the team. He is also a certified Hydronic Designer and is an honours graduate, holding a Master of Science in Geophysics from the University of Western Ontario. With their sound practical and scientific backgrounds, the two brothers hit the ground running early on.

Since the company’s inception, the team has converted large numbers of Canadians into adopting modern wood burning systems as a means to help clean up the way in which the country heats small and large spaces alike, becoming national experts on the topic in the process. Breaking into the market early on provided Biothermic with a massive head start that has resulted in multiple invitations to represent the industry on panels, groups, and events where they advise policymakers, mayors and cabinet ministers on the future of heating and the contribution that modern wood heating can make in the process.

At present, Vince and Mike act as industry representatives on a solid fuels working group that forms part of Canada’s Clean Fuel Standards Initiative, and on the Canadian Standards Association’s (CSA) Solid Biofuels Committee. They have addressed audiences at wood energy forums as well as classes at the Universities of Toronto and Lakehead, and have collaborated on intergovernmental workgroups. Their argument is solid. “If you consider that it is clear that we need to take action on climate change, [along with] the price of oil and gas continuing to rise, it only makes sense that wood is going to become [an increasingly large] part of our energy mix,” says Vince.

The future of heating is in modern wood burning
With the importance of modern wood burning systems growing alongside the urgency of establishing carbon-neutral heating sources, Biothermic makes getting these systems installed easier than ever before. With this committed team on standby, easy, modern and clean heating is but a phone call away.

Of course, with better awareness comes better understanding. Therefore, it is heartwarming to know that there is a company out there that is ushering in an unexpected and brave new means of harnessing an ancient heating method – one that helped our ancestors survive eons of bitter cold Canadian winters in a way that is not only kind to the earth but also quintessentially modern, simple and a fantastic long-term investment.

We all know that knowledge is power. At Biothermic, however, that power lies in the solid biofuel provided by home-grown, Canadian wood. That’s because its leaders see no logic in burning money – or fossil fuels – when wood combusted in one of its top quality, modern boilers is a cleaner, smarter and more sustainable way to stay warm in winter.

The post Heating for the Long Haul<p class="company">Biothermic</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Founded over two decades ago, Houston-headquartered AES Drilling Fluids not only lives by the motto that ‘Better Fluids Equal Better Wells,’ but puts this into practice by investing in ongoing research and development, listening to client needs, and fostering awareness of the industry through its publications and use of digital media.

AES provides all the capabilities found in much larger companies and prides itself on professional and personalized service and solutions. Widely used products – those used by all oilfield customers for drilling – are available, while the company formulates others for clients operating in certain areas.

“On occasion, we have customers who have a specific problem or want to see a specific technology and try it out, so we will develop something specifically for them,” states Technology and Marketing Manager Matt Offenbacher. If AES does not have an existing product or solution available, the company has the abilities to create one in the laboratory as well as perform testing, validation, and deployment.

The company performs most of its work in-house but will occasionally work with outside companies. Since there is such a broad spectrum of products, it makes sense to deal with other experts and take advantage of their experience. This is all part of the business moving away from the ‘pre-packaged fluid system’ culture to serve the needs of its clients better.

AES leads the drilling fluids market with a range of unique water-based drilling fluid systems and invert emulsion drilling fluid systems like EnerSEAL. Similar technologies to EnerSEAL have been on the market for some time, although issues with their stability limited their use. AES developed EnerSEAL to overcome these issues, so that performance benefits can be realized in the field.”

Another popular product is AES’s water-based EnerLITE Direct Emulsion System. Popular with clients working in the Permian Basin, the EnerLITE system saves rig time and equipment and logistics expenses by eliminating casing string through low density and salt inhibition.

Taking it a step further, AES also has a service called EnerLITE RECOVER. While drilling, it’s possible to minimize solids accumulation to limit or eliminate oil dilution for density control. “When the EnerLITE system is no longer needed, such as at the end of a pad, the liquid phases can be separated,” according to the company. “In some cases, more than fifty percent of the oil can be recovered and reused to make EnerLITE or AES VERT. The brine is also reusable, minimizing transportation and disposal costs.”

AES’s facility in Kermit, Texas recently underwent a major expansion, doubling in size, representing the company’s investment in the business and the region. The Kermit facility is the largest in the Permian Basin, consisting of a liquid mud plant, full mixing facility, chemical warehouse and four 300-ton bulk barite loading silos. “We expanded it because it’s where most of our customers focus their activity,” says Offenbacher. “We pride ourselves on having more than enough capacity to meet their needs.”

The Kermit facility sits on twenty-seven acres in the heart of the oil-rich Delaware Basin, the most prolific section of the Permian Basin. The facility mixes a variety of drilling fluids and stores the necessary components including large amounts of barite, an ore integral to the production of barium mud used during oil drilling.

“Barite is probably the most important commodity in the mud system,” says Vice President James Strickland, adding that while some other companies have a hard time finding trucks to get to a rig, AES’s investment in infrastructure at Kermit ensures the company has ample access to barite and other products to serve customers and not run out. “And it’s not only barite, but we probably have more mixing plants than anyone else out there, so we can build mud at a faster pace than anyone else.”

AES also works with its sister company which secures ore, grinds it, and ships it by rail to Kermit, ensuring plenty of supply. “You hear about the Permian Basin struggling for trucks all the time. We can load a barite truck and get it off to location in ten minutes, and we probably have well over one hundred trucks showing up every day. So the idea that we can minimize their presence on location and get them back on the road is obviously very significant for our customers.”

As part of it continual innovation, the company is developing its own analytics platform , AES ANALYTICS, utilizing large amounts of data which will improve the drilling process for its customers. AES is rolling it out little by little as a pilot program with some customers since there are thousands of data points, and the company wants to ensure they are reliable.

Once complete, it will tie into a Smartphone app accessible “anywhere and everywhere,” says Offenbacher. “Our account managers will have a very detailed level access, and our customers will have a level of access that helps them track benchmarks they ask us for, and then we can customize it as needed, so everyone can do their job better.”

The company’s The Flowline: An AES Drilling Fluids Podcast is the first of its kind in the industry. “We mention our products, but we are not aggressively promoting them,” says Technology and Marketing Manager Matt Offenbacher. “We are trying to educate the industry. The idea is, if a customer is listening, we might not talk about their specific problem, but they know they can call us at any time, and we can probably address it.”

Topics discussed on the weekly podcast vary. Recent episodes have covered drilling fluid density, viscosity, electrical stability, and the drilling fluid circulating system. The Flowline also features guests such as company Vice President James Strickland and Operations Manager Nate Castaneda discussing facilities required for full-service drilling fluids operations.

“We also answer listener questions, which is really fun because we get a lot of questions from our competitors, which we enjoy, and from people in the industry asking us to make an episode for something they want to understand better,” states Offenbacher.

The company also has a YouTube channel which is aimed at engaging and educating both existing and prospective customers about its solutions and explaining common technical concepts.

Offenbacher says that the company’s many superior products are just one factor setting AES Drilling Fluids apart from the competition. “It is very difficult to quantify service,” he comments. “You can have the best technology in the world, but if you don’t have the right people to deliver it, it’s not worth anything. We are fortunate to have the combination of great service, being able to solve basic problems at a commodity level, and go as technologically intense as our customer needs to tackle a problem. I can’t emphasize enough how much I believe in the service we have to offer and how it makes everything else we do so much better.”

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Senior Vice President Todd Collier recounts that Timmons Oil began when founder John D. Timmons left his position at Otasco (Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company) in 1961 and began his own company later that year. At first, the company owned and operated three stations across Oklahoma. It then added a pump tank and equipment to eventually bring it to a total of seven locations, before becoming incorporated in 1978 with twenty to thirty dealer operators and twelve equipment operators.

The business would continue growing, and in 1988, it acquired the ten-acre plot of land on which it still sits today, while also continuing its expansion into lubricants and oil rigs. Current president John Timmons is the son of the founder and has been with the company since its inception when he was fourteen years old, and president since 2003, when his father stepped down.

His brother Rick has been with Timmons Oil since 1971, primarily working in sales since 1978. He affirms that his brother John possesses a keen mind for engineering and mechanics, a perfect fit for his role as president.

Collier also endorses the family values in Timmons Oil, as well as its strong foundation of faith as its core, remarking that the company “belongs to God. We just manage it.” President John Timmons offers employees paid time for a Wednesday streaming of a LifeChurch service in the company conference room. Faith clearly informs the company’s values, and a foundation of trust and dependability ably fill in the rest.

Collier states that the company has an absolute focus on both quality products and customer service, effectively its two main tenets of business. “Our goal,” he says, “is that everybody says that Timmons Oil has the best service in the business.”

The company makes itself available to its customers in practically any area they may need, with many employees having also served as on-call dispatchers at various times, and this includes the Timmons family. Collier mentions that fuel quality is monitored and tested constantly in the company, especially on its vehicles, ensuring that all necessary additives are well mixed, so customers have as few problems as possible.

The company has over five hundred fuel tanks available to loan to customers, with pick-up and delivery included. Collier notes that many customers depend on life-saving power, and in times of emergency, the brand has stepped up to ensure those people get their fuel, braving inclement weather in company vehicles when needed. Timmons has also aided in situations not directly related to its customers.

It helps in environmentally threatening situations like oil spills and provides fuel in disaster situations like hurricanes as a member of an emergency response organization. These situations are a taste of how far the company is willing to go to serve its clientele, for matters both great and small, and Collier touts the company’s mantra, ‘Customer service is a family tradition.’

He admits that the company could not make it in the industry without the support of not only its customers but its vendors. It works closely with trusted partners like Hughes Tank Company, Total, Starfire, Presto – of which Timmons is the only dealer in Oklahoma – and Schaeffer, among others.

Collier says that Timmons does not sell economy products and that everything in the company’s inventory is of premium quality. Cheaper oils tend to wear out too quickly, whereas premium oil will contain more additive.

It is also quick to acknowledge the efforts of its valued workforce, some of whom have been with the company for a long time.

The company’s hiring practices are “interested in what someone is doing, not what they’ve done.” By this, Collier means that Timmons is a non-judgmental hiring body, especially extending positions to people formerly from the military sector or possessing a criminal record. He says people deserve a second chance, and there have been employees who have been with the company for many years in supervisory or even managerial positions who have come from such backgrounds and have greatly benefited the company with their contributions.

Collier and the management staff at Timmons Oil have found that the fuels and oils market is a particularly volatile one, changing almost daily. Fuel is expensive, and he says the idea that companies make a lot of money from selling it is a myth. The hidden costs involved in delivery and selling – fuel trucks cost around $320,000 with further costs for tires and insurance – eat into that.

Much like other companies focused on delivery, Timmons Oil has also found it challenging with ongoing industry regulations, price fluctuation, and constant truck inspections to find and keep good drivers on its workforce. Collier admits that it is getting harder to be in a business that requires a commercial driver’s license, and a good driver can indeed be hard to find. However, he praises the efforts of the current workforce and says that the company is blessed by the quality of employees it has. Its workers believe in the role they play and in the company itself.

In recent years, Timmons Oil has seen its sales force expand into Springdale, Arkansas, and Collier reveals that the company has already installed a facility and begun to make sales there. There are plans to build a location in Tontitown, Arkansas, and the company is currently communicating with the township about the prospect of building a 10,000-square-foot facility there.

Collier also hopes that the company will be able to expand to the west of Tulsa, Oklahoma or elsewhere in either Oklahoma or Kansas in the future. He says the company’s business practices mean that Timmons will “do what it takes to be profitable, short of sinning… if we can grow profitably, we will; if not, we’ll remain at the size we are.”

He takes pride in the fact that when it comes to customer satisfaction, the company will sometimes lose money to be of help. It has made its name for over fifty years by serving the people who depend on its products, and for a company rooted in its values, serving others is the heart of Timmons Oil.

The post Faith & Family<p class="company">Timmons Oil Company</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

“Texas is the number one oil and natural gas-producing state in the country. Many sources have described our state as an energy superpower in its own right. Texas alone produces forty percent of the crude oil in the U.S. and the Permian Basin [in Texas and New Mexico] is the most productive oil field in the world,” states TXOGA President, Todd Staples.

He adds, “No matter how diversified our state’s economy has become, oil and natural gas remains the backbone of the Texas economy and has been the catalyst for fueling our state’s success.”

Indeed, the statistics are astonishing. In 2017, the Texas oil and natural gas sector was worth $463 billion and accounted for twenty-nine percent of gross state product (GSP). Some 348,570 people were employed in the industry, earning an average salary of $129,991.

Founded in 1919, TXOGA is the biggest and oldest state-wide trade association that speaks for this enormous sector.

TXOGA “represents every facet of the oil and gas industry from small independents to major producers. Collectively, the membership of TXOGA produces more than ninety percent of Texas crude oil and natural gas. Our members operate over eighty percent [of Texas] refining capacity, and they’re responsible for the vast majority of our state’s pipeline,” explains Staples.

TXOGA is marking its centenary in various ways. The association’s members are funding the renovation of an oil and natural gas exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. The revamped exhibit will be unveiled this fall as part of TXOGA’s centenary celebrations.

“We’re sharing stories from men and women of the industry and [highlighting] the innovation that has revolutionized the industry and the environmental progress that we have made over one hundred years,” he states. As it enters its second century, TXOGA is focused on “ensuring that Texas remains a competitive place to do business,” says Staples.

“We have four focal points for association activities that we address: legislation, regulation, judicial affairs, and public affairs. We have a strong member-supported committee structure and mobilize representatives of our member companies that have expertise. There is no other organization in the state that can marshal the spectrum of expertise on industry issues like TXOGA can,” he continues.

Membership in TXOGA offers other benefits as well. “Safety is the number one priority of our member companies. So, TXOGA has a workers’ compensation safety group. Along with others, this group produces safety modules that are available for training purposes. We have a very strong workers’ compensation insurance program through Texas Mutual that offers affordable and quality workers’ comp benefits to eligible member companies. We also have a partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas that makes it possible for small businesses to provide affordable group health insurance coverage to its employees through our Association Health Plan,” he states.

The association engages in robust promotional and lobbying activities. Most of the latter is directed at the Texas Legislature, though some issues, such as environmental reviews and interstate projects, involve federal officials. TXOGA works with state legislators to keep taxation rates fair and regulations reasonable.

Public education also plays a big part in what TXOGA does. The association strives to highlight the role of oil and natural gas in the Texas economy. As Staples points out, you do not have to work for the sector to benefit from it. Texas oil and natural gas companies paid $14 billion in state royalties and state and local taxes in the fiscal year 2018, an increase of twenty-seven percent from the previous fiscal year. Between fiscal years 2007 and 2018, state royalties and taxes paid by the industry added up to more than $133 billion.

This money is used to finance road construction, support first responders, and fund education. Texas currently boasts a $44 billion Permanent School Fund and a $22.6 billion Permanent University Fund, both of which are funded with oil and natural gas royalties. The Texas Permanent School Fund supports public school education from kindergarten through grade twelve in Texas and recently became the largest educational endowment in the nation.

TXOGA also wants to educate the public about the benefits of hydraulic fracturing, also known as ‘fracking,’ a practice much criticized by environmentalists. Fracking allows oil and natural gas companies to access formerly unreachable deposits. The ‘shale revolution’ as it has been dubbed has proven to be a massive benefit for America, says Staples.

“Consumers should fully be informed that fracking is the reason we have access to affordable and reliable energy sources today. The shale revolution has elevated the United States to become the number one oil and natural gas producer on the planet. Because of the shale revolution, the U.S. is far less dependent on other nations for our energy needs. We have become a major energy exporter – something that was unthinkable a decade ago,” he says.

Tapping into new domestic supplies of oil and natural gas means more than just cheap fuel for your car. According to TXOGA, roughly ninety-six percent of everyday consumer items from laptops and shampoo to cellphones, eyeglasses and medical devices are fashioned from petrochemicals.

“Study after study has confirmed that fracking does not harm drinking water or air quality regardless of the misinformation campaigns that people are exposed to. Expanding the use of natural gas produced through fracking is one of the reasons carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. are near thirty-year lows,” insists Staples.

On that same note, TXOGA is determined to publicize efforts the oil and natural gas sector has made to create a cleaner environment. “Our industry truly stands out as the leading investor in zero- and low-carbon technology. Our industry is a leader in carbon sequestration and capture technology,” he says.

According to TXOGA, the oil and natural gas industry invested over $300 billion in greenhouse gas mitigating technologies between the years 2000 and 2016. Thanks to industry-financed research and development and refiners producing cleaner gasoline and diesel fuels, new cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs give off roughly ninety-nine percent fewer emissions than vehicles did in 1970, reports TXOGA.

The association supports pipelines as the safest method of transporting natural gas and oil and notes that under Texas regulations, oil and natural gas-producing wells must meet strict building standards. Wells must feature multiple layers of cement and steel to protect groundwater and they are rigorously tested before being put to use.

Staples also cites the Environmental Partnership, an initiative of many U.S. oil and gas companies to share best practices to reduce methane emissions and implement other green measures.

The industry’s efforts “are working. Methane emissions from oil and natural gas systems are down fourteen percent from 1990 to 2017 all the while production has skyrocketed,” he says.

While supportive of an all-of-the-above energy approach, including renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, TXOGA wants the public to understand that “oil and natural gas will continue to be the dominant energy provider for the foreseeable future, as these resources are the only ones capable of delivering the reliable, affordable, and abundant energy our nation demands,” explains Staples.

Being the dominant energy provider comes with its own set of challenges, however. “With record production and all forecasts indicating we will continue to grow, our state needs expanded infrastructure to transport oil and gas to communities and to our export facilities. We know there are billions of dollars in pipeline projects planned and underway that will produce thousands of jobs and substantial revenues, and will add to our energy strength and energy security. Developing this infrastructure is absolutely essential to remaining the dominant world player and for our own domestic energy security,” he notes.

He forecasts a bright future, for both the Texas natural gas and oil industry and the association that represents this sector.

“This industry is committed to partnering tried and proven technology with innovation and ingenuity in order to address challenges and environmental issues. I see no signs of slowing down. Our industry partners are committed to safety and environmentally responsible methodologies and will continue to be the world leaders. At TXOGA, our responsibility is to be a strong advocate for the industry and to be partners for growth,” states Staples.

The post Fueling the Economy, Enhancing Security and Improving the Environment<p class="company">The Texas Oil and Gas Association</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

From the Oil Crisis of 1973 and again in 1979, to dozens of major spills like the Atlantic Empress into the Atlantic Ocean and the devastating BP Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, millions of gallons of oil have found their way into oceans, lakes, and streams.

These disasters and others, like the deadly 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail accident in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, and a fiery train derailment in Saskatchewan this February igniting almost 1.2 million litres, further soured the world’s views on oil.

With the most recent glut in supply caused by the oil price war with Saudi Arabia – and the embroilment of the entire planet into the COVID-19 crisis – some industry insiders are predicting oil could plunge to $10 US a barrel, as overburdened storage tanks reach capacity.

From record highs of over $140 US a barrel in 2008, plummeting to under $20 US per barrel in March, and prices at the gas pumps dipping below $2 per gallon in some American states, many are questioning alternative sources to oil, gasoline, natural gas, propane, shale, and coal.

Shift to biofuels
Factors including high fuel prices, unreliable sources, global political strife, fears over worsening climate change, protests worldwide against oil and gas pipelines, and recent improvements in green energy technology and battery storage, have led to advocacy of alternative fuel options.

Defined as fuels derived from non-fossil sources – unlike crude oil or coal – alternative fuels come in different forms, including liquid, gas, and solar.

While some alternative fuels are combined with petroleum-based products, others, like ethanol, are made entirely from biomass materials with high sugar and starch content like corn, beets, sugar cane, wood chips, and even some grasses.

With added enzymes, these and other raw materials are processed into a mash, cooked and cooled, fermented into alcohol, and distilled.

Although ethanol – sometimes called bio-alcohol – has been in the news recently with stories about farmers converting land used for crops such as soybeans into corn for ethanol (not without controversy, owing to production costs and land use), ethanol has been around for a long time.

Since the time that ethyl alcohol was used in early combustion engines by German inventor Nikolaus Otto in 1860, the history of alcohol fuels has been controversial.

Progressing from heavy taxation during the American Civil War to controversial federal ethanol-production subsidies under the Carter Administration in the late 1970s, and ducking claims by the petroleum industry that ethanol is inferior to gasoline, bio-based fuels, despite the attacks, are not vanishing from the fuel landscape.

The alternative vehicle
Always looking for a telling advantage, visionaries and automobile manufacturers have long experimented with cars powered by sources of energy other than gasoline or diesel.

While cars like the popular Tesla bring environmentally friendly attributes, they also come with their share of negatives. Powered by rechargeable batteries, these cars lack practical range, a consistent theme emanating from owners and reviewers alike. Recently, improvements have been made to the distance obtainable per charge, but even the endurance of the 2020 Tesla Model 3 – which sees the company claim 322 miles for the Long Range version – falls short in real world testing.

Of course, technology guru Elon Musk’s Tesla is not the only electric fuel vehicle on the market. Other manufacturers including BMW, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan, Ford, Chevrolet, Volvo and Kia are also on board with models like the BMW i3, the Nissan Leaf, and the Chevrolet Bolt.

But, long before battery-powered electric vehicles, cars fuelled by organic-based products were on the road. Even Henry Ford’s famous Model T was assembled with a carburetor enabling it to use gasoline, ethanol, or a mixture of both (but not with a dual-fuel dashboard switch, an urban myth).

This was followed by Ford making lines of trucks and buses, so called ‘generator vehicles,’ with engines running on wood (charcoal) gas.

The number of vehicle manufacturers producing cars powered by alternative sources grew as more facilities worldwide began making biofuel. The first alternative producer in the United States was Pacific Biodiesel.

Opening in 1996, the plant – which transformed used cooking oil and grease from waste traps into fuel – was in operation until 2014, when it was forced to close due to new requirements and permits from the Maui County Department of Environmental Management.

Along with the U.S., which was responsible for the biofuel production of 38,088 metric tons of oil equivalent in 2018, other nations are on board with petroleum-based alternatives. These include Brazil (21,375 metric tons of oil equivalent), Indonesia at 4,849, Germany at 3,445, China at 3,099, and France at 2,727 (all 2018 figures).

From solar to biodiesel
A combination of improved technologies and lower prices for solar cells, government incentives, a growing acceptance of wind power, and reluctance to remain dependent on fossil fuels has spurred growth in alternative fuels. As the world keeps going green, non-petroleum based sources of sustainable energy – which create little or no harmful emissions – are becoming more popular.

As with any fuel, there are pros and cons. While ethanol is readily made from corn, wheat, or other plant-based substances, some question this use of land: removing it from food production and thus impacting food prices.

Other alternative fuels like biodiesel, which can be made from new or recycled vegetable oils and animal fats, are safe and produce far fewer carbon monoxide emissions than gasoline. And unlike oil, biofuels do not need to be extracted from the ground.

One of the key criticisms of biodiesel, however, is that the acreage needed for its creation must be offset by more forests to neutralize carbon dioxide.

Another issue surrounding fuels like biodiesel and methanol is the occasional admix of petroleum products, depending on the type of engine being used. Also, pure methanol, sometimes called wood alcohol, is toxic to the central nervous system if ingested, and can cause blindness.

However, methanol does present some advantages, including that it is harder to ignite than gasoline, has a higher octane rating, and is cleaner-burning. For these reasons, it’s frequently used in racing cars.

According to Petroleum.co.uk, approximately 90 percent of the world’s vehicles still use oil-based fuels, accounting for about 70 percent of all petroleum. While electric vehicles like those from Tesla and even massive electric-powered mining trucks from Komatsu are gaining ground, the coming years will see considerable growth in alternative sources like biofuels.

One of the biggest industries poised to utilize plant, animal fat and recycled grease-based fuels is transportation.

To date, about 98 percent of America’s transportation sector is fuelled by petroleum products. As new technology emerges and engines become more efficient, the use of biofuels will keep increasing. More automotive manufacturers worldwide are embracing dual-fuel or flexible-fuel vehicles (FFV), made to operate on more than one kind of fuel.

Two of the biggest markets are Brazil and the United States, known for their production of oil-based alternative fuels. In the U.S., the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has served the nation’s ethanol industry since 1981, and is leading the way towards a cleaner and energy-independent future.

Big jobs & billions of dollars
In its Focus Forward: 2020 Ethanol Industry Outlook, the RFA notes the importance of the ethanol industry to rural Americans in particular.

In 2019, 68,684 jobs were directly associated with the ethanol sector, which also supported another 280,327 indirect/induced jobs, creating $23.3 billion in household income. A huge contributor to the American economy, spending over $27 billion on “raw materials, inputs, and other goods and services,” the ethanol sector also provided $43 billion of America’s GDP (gross domestic product).

The world’s leader in ethanol production, consumption, and export, America last year produced approximately 16 billion gallons, 54 percent of the global total.

As more countries see ethanol and other bio-based fuels as alternatives to oil and gas, the planet will be closer to energy security. While fossil fuels will probably never completely disappear from our daily lives, alternative greener sources will continue to grow.

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Texas-based, family-owned Axium Solar has devoted itself to creating quality renewable energy solutions readily accessible to consumers since 2006, when founder Bob Kendrick — owner of Axium Electric, an energy management business — constructed his own eco-friendly home, complete with a solar-panel system. The construction intrigued his neighbors enough that Bob not only educated them about renewable energy, but extended his own company into the solar services business.

“Out of a concern for the future of our kids and environmental climate change, and being good stewards of the environment and our world, Bob decided he wanted to go solar at his house and make it a net zero application,” says Axium Vice President and General Manager Eric Cotney. “He started researching the technology and decided he could do it himself, making his house run off renewable energy with a combination of wind and solar, while at same time getting into the solar business.”

These days, Axium employs a team of skilled renewable energy experts to work with owners, architects, engineers, and contractors during every phase of a project, from design through construction, encouraging consumers to exercise their ability to affect the future of this planet positively, emphasizing that “choices can change things.”

The early years saw Axium focused on the residential market, with quite a bit of servicing of those who wanted to go solar at their own homes, says Cotney.

“We then bid on and won a big commercial deal, and we gradually started transitioning our business to the commercial market. We still did both residential and commercial, but had a lot of success in the commercial side, making a name for ourselves in Dallas as one of the go-to companies for anyone wanting to go solar.”

The company now works exclusively in the commercial, industrial and utility markets, focusing on rooftop projects, carport systems, ground mounts, and also utility-scale solar farms. Axium performs projects turnkey and also as a subcontractor for the electrical scope. Axium will finish this year at 100MW of installed solar capacity, a significant milestone for the company.

“We do pretty much every single application that’s out there for solar, including covered parking and canopies,” says Owner and Construction Manager Derik Kendrick. “That’s our focus in the renewable industry.” Axium also works to align itself with other green industries, creating partnerships to help share and build awareness of clean, renewable energy.

“We prefer to work with customers from the very beginning of a project to help them design, doing all the engineering, procurement and construction,” says Cotney, “and then we also have a dedicated service team that allows us to continue the relationship with the customer and follow up with any necessary service.”

Mainly operating in the state of Texas, Axium is now branching out to other states, including Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana. But no matter where they provide their services, their dedication and passion for the industry remains paramount.

“The main thing is that we’re focused on helping as many people go solar as possible,” says Vanessa Green, Director of Operations. “We’re all very driven and passionate, and really care about what we do, and it reflects in the work that the rest of the team performs as well. Even the guys in the field are passionate about what they do. They work long hours sometimes, but they do it because they know that the end goal is good for the environment and everybody all around.”

Axium also prides itself on its diversity initiative, employing ten deaf workers in a number of different positions, starting three years ago with the hiring of the deaf nephew of a 10-year employee.

“Since then, we’ve hired his best friends, and then their friends and now we have them spread out all over different jobs, including two service guys, one in the north and one in south Texas,” says Kendrick. “We have key positions for deaf people in different types of jobs, and lots of employees have learned sign language. It’s become a whole deal within the company, like a little community all working together.”

Kendrick himself has become fluent enough that he can communicate with all the teams, running and managing the crews. “We’ve really adopted this culture,” adds Green.

“It’s a real personal commitment of his, doing what it takes to make this happen,” says Cotney. He adds that many employees have also taken classes on their own, learning enough sign language to communicate with deaf workers on the job. Last year Axium received the Medium Business Lex Friedman award, for businesses that hire disabled workers.

Axium’s growth and success in the industry as a whole definitely lies partly in its strong, unified workforce, where employees are devoted and dedicated to the product and its benefits.

“We’re also unique in the marketplace, because Axium has chosen to retain a large labor force,” says Cotney. “Whenever someone hires us, the work is predominantly done by Axium Solar employees. A lot of companies are sales companies or engineering and design companies, and they hire subcontractors. We feel we’re unique in that we do all of it.”

This means the quality of an installation is in the control of Axium itself, as it’s their team doing the work. Cotney stresses that not a lot of people in Texas have commercial and industrial experience that Axium has, in terms of number and scope of projects. “We’re unrivalled in terms of our experience and reputation out there.”

They’re also distinct in their ability to maintain company unity and communication, according to Green. “Often, as companies become corporate, they become isolated in their departments and don’t communicate with each other, and we’re not like that,” she says. “We’re one big team. If there’s a question about something we put our heads together and make ourselves stronger as a team. We look at all different angles of a project and what a client might want, to create cost and installation efficiency so we can meet our deadlines.”

As climate concerns continue to escalate, so will the need and desire for solar energy as a main source of power, but this, says Cotney, wasn’t always the case, especially in the beginning.

“It’s been great to see the growth in the solar industry. Initially, I was skeptical that we’d see the kind of growth that we’ve seen. It’s been really refreshing and exciting to be a part of the industry as a whole and see the widespread adoption that’s taking place,” he shares.

“Solar as experienced a significant drop in price and increase in efficiency over the past few years,” continues Cotney. “A dollar spent on solar technology goes much further today than it did even three years ago. When I started in the industry, many customers were willing to invest in solar even if the return on investment wasn’t necessarily that attractive. They were predominantly interested in investing in the future both as a hedge against rising energy costs and doing their part to create a better environment,” he explains.

“Now we still have the responsibility piece, but we’re also making financial sense, and we’re seeing a lot more adoption because it’s a viable supplementary technology that we’ve been doing — it’s even becoming a preferred technology in many cases. I never saw this coming to the scale it is now, but it’s exciting to be a part of this industry!”

Axium also maintains its commitment to taking care of customers by staying true to its word right from the start, even if that means a possible financial loss.

“Our reputation and our integrity in the marketplace is the most important thing, and we’re going to do the right thing for the customer,” says Cotney. “We often have that discussion with customers to make sure their expectations of the technology and market conditions line up with reality. We don’t want to do something that’s going to give Axium or the industry as a whole a bad name. This company is committed to that and I couldn’t work here if that wasn’t a core value.”

Axium also works hard to maintain its impeccable culture of safety, by enforcing higher than average qualifications and minimum requirements for all employees.

“Every day we have safety group chats with different topics across the company as a whole,” says Green. “We reinforce safety for experienced employees, and also teach new guys to stay safe and look out for each other along the way.”

The future continues to look bright for all environmentally responsible industries, and Cotney says that Axium has been riding that wave. “We’ve both created and had a lot of opportunities come our way that we’ve capitalized on. Plus, doing the right thing for people and doing a good job has made us the preferred partner for many of our existing customers. We seize the opportunities that come our way and capitalize on them,” he says. “That’s why we’ve grown. We’re seeing some markets open up for us that we don’t normally chase, and we see ourselves growing toward even larger projects and other markets in years to come.”

Knowing that your product is not only helping your customers, but making the world a better, cleaner place for future generations is a noble goal that ensures every Axium employee is proud to display the company name.

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