In recent years, clean energy and emissions reduction have become prominent topics in sectors such as heavy industrial manufacturing. Mike Wandler, President of L&H Industrial and CEO of Evercore Energy, argues that although these issues are important, they are not the most pressing challenges for ensuring long-term success in industrial manufacturing.
Wandler has worked with the biggest machines on the planet long enough to know that this industry cannot hope to effectively reduce their emissions while maintaining operational efficiency without first focusing on power abundance and energy reliability. He shares the principles of his strategies through his work with Evercore Energy and in his book, Innovate Energy: The Microreactor Revolution—Truth, Grit, and the Future of American Power. Wandler believes America’s heavy manufacturing sector can leverage industrial innovation and technologies such as microreactors, intelligent systems, and resilient supply chains to secure the future of industrial solutions.
Case Study: Reviving Manufacturing in California
One clear and current example of the need for better industrial energy solutions is the state of California, or, more specifically, its efforts to bring back advanced manufacturing. The state is set to host companies that manufacture valuable goods like semiconductors, green tech, and aerospace technology, but, as Wandler notes, there is a significant barrier to this progress: California has the highest industrial power costs in the U.S.
Without a way to address this problem, Wandler argues, America will be unable to reverse its current industrial decline or to find cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. He believes the solution lies in microreactors.
Microreactors and Other Forms of Next-Gen Energy
Technologies such as microreactors, AI, digital twins, and IIoT are relatively new yet show significant promise for generating and managing energy. These functions become more important as we add renewable energy sources like wind and solar to the U.S.’s aging, increasingly complex energy grid. Such additions have made it more difficult to maintain a stable, reliable energy flow, especially in energy-intensive areas like California.
Wandler personally vouches for microreactors, a scaled-down type of nuclear reactor, for their ability to generate significant energy without complex fabrication or operational processes. His company, Evercore Energy, specializes in producing them to help manufacturers meet new energy requirements and maintain reliable power levels.
Digital tools such as AI, digital twins, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), meanwhile, help companies optimize energy use in various ways. For instance, IIoT can help reduce energy consumption by monitoring for leaks and other inefficiencies. In contrast, digital twins can be used to manage energy grids and help operators respond to issues more quickly, sometimes preventing them altogether.
Working Together for a Common Good
These technologies are quite useful in their own right; however, they require a solid understanding of how they work, how to implement them, and how to maintain them for long-term use. Wandler uses his industry knowledge to advocate for the Innovate Energy movement—a call to action to restore energy abundance and reliability. He shares his experience with technology leaders around the world, contributing to this global effort to improve power reliability.
Through Evercore Energy, he aims to help other businesses implement next-gen energy technologies to improve the overall condition of America’s manufacturing industry through allied-nation manufacturing.
In practice, these partnerships could adopt an Owner-Operating Company model, i.e., a framework that allows companies in sectors like mining to distribute industrial power via microreactors while also building the manufacturing, safety-critical quality, and high-spec industrial capability that today’s energy demands require.
America has the capacity and potential to return to the world stage as a manufacturing leader. Through Wandler’s energy reliability innovations, power-abundance practices, and broader commitment to entrepreneurial leadership initiatives like Wyoming’s Innovative Entrepreneurs, the nation could very well get there soon. By building communities of innovators who share knowledge and push boundaries, he is helping to create the ecosystem America needs to reclaim its industrial future.
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