Green Success Stories puts Jeff Ackel, CEO of Sigma Thermal, Inc., in The Green Spotlight. Jeff credits his engineering experience with seeing the significant value to be gained in energy efficiency and in reducing waste of all kinds. He describes the advances Sigma Thermal provides in reducing emissions and improving efficiency in industrial equipment. Jeff points to the impactful things we can do to reduce emissions in the industrial space, and how the technology already exists. Per Jeff, the great thing is that efficiency gains benefit everyone and are not a zero-sum game.

Tell us a bit about your sustainability journey.

As an engineer I have always enjoyed looking for ways to gain efficiency and eliminate waste – wasted energy, wasted effort, and wasted resources. The reality of being a supplier in the energy space is that you can only sell what people are willing to buy. We can create great technology with higher efficiency and lower emissions, but we don’t make the decisions about what is specified and purchased. Throughout the 26 years of my career, I have seen a lot of fads, trends, good ideas, and bad ideas. We are constantly trying to innovate and find new ways to do more with less.

Tell us a bit about the product or solution you offer.

Sigma Thermal offers a number of products and solutions. As it relates to emissions reduction and efficiency increases, we focus on things like economizers and low emissions burners. We also design and manufacture biomass fired heating systems and other types of large-scale waste to energy systems.

Share a green success story with us – how have you helped customers or other businesses in the fight against climate change?

Industrial energy consumption represents over 26% of the total energy consumed within the United States, but it barely registers as a thought or subject in most public energy conservation discussions. As a provider of industrial heating systems in this space, we are on the front lines of industrial energy consumption. Every time that we are able to increase the efficiency of a heating system, we reduce the amount of energy consumed daily by that customer. One project in particular that we find to be very interesting and impactful is a project through a natural gas midstream company at four different sites in the Midwest. They are investing in waste heat to power systems that will allow them to generate nearly 40MW of electricity using energy sources that already exist. Anytime you can create something from nothing in the industrial energy space, it’s a win.

What would you do with $1 billion dollars?

Diversify!

What do you envision your industry looking like in ten years?

That’s hard to say because so much of what we do is driven by our customers and the regulations that they have to comply with. My hope is that there will continue to be incentives and funding from local, state, and federal sources to support efficiency improvements in industrial equipment. There are significant gains that can be made in this space, but it requires the support of both industry and government.

What would you like readers to take away from this article?

Some of the most significantly impactful things that we can do to reduce emissions are in the industrial space, and the technology already exists. The great thing is that efficiency gains benefit everyone and are not a zero-sum game. Manufacturing facilities and industrial operators save money on fuel consumption, which reduces their operating costs. The challenge is that the financial incentives for companies to make those investments mostly come from state and local governments, and those things have a cost to taxpayers. It requires the support of the people to let government know that they care.

How should readers get in touch with you and/or your organization?

http://www.sigmathermal.com

Kudos

Many thanks to Jeff Ackel and Sigma Thermal, Inc. Green Success Stories is happy to support and highlight your efforts! We invite you the reader to do the same.

About Green Success Stories

Green Success Stories is a media platform that highlights leaders in sustainability and climate tech.

We offer professional writing (articles, blogposts, case studies, and more) combined with social media promotion. You get great content + exponential publicity. As a starting offer, we’d like to feature you and your organization in a FREE PROFILE ARTICLE. There’s no obligation, but we’d appreciate you considering our services. Let us know if you’re interested and we’ll share more information.