Option Development
An Example of Option Development:
You have just purchased a cabin in the county that you plan on visiting once a month
and would like to have running water.
What are your options for water?
- Connect to city water, but where is the city main and who pays for the long pipe?
- Build a rainwater cistern, treatment system, and booster pump.
- Drill a well, install a pump, pressure tank, pipes, and controls.
- Pump some river water through a treatment system,
- Use a booster pump to bring in lake water
- Build a water tower to store water in lieu of a booster pump or pressure tank.
- Fill 55 – gallon drums in the pickup truck with off-load pump.
What does each of these options cost?
Does the site have electricity to run the pump or does it also need a generator?
What are the pros and cons of each option?
What are the operational and maintenance costs for each option?
Choose the best cost option.
Unknown Options:
At a high level, many of us think through our options (options or ideas that we
happen to know about) and make a decision. The problem is that, “We don’t know what
we don’t know.” As Daniel Boorstin, former professor at the University of Chicago
and former librarian of the United States Congress, confirmed, “Education is learning
what you didn’t know you didn’t know.” How many of us have made a decision or not
made a decision and then after talking with friends “learned” of a better, cheaper,
faster option? As we age we tend to ask for advice because we discover that unlike
teenagers we don’t know everything, and it helps to understand all our options.
Energy Options:
Green Energy Engineering, Inc. has spent years developing alternative ways of utilizing
energy in power generation, steam production, and process heating needs. Our focus
starts with your process and then tailors a solution that best fits your thermodynamic
and financial criteria. Fuel selection, equipment efficiency, thermal cycle, and
end use all play a role in your energy bill and your carbon footprint.
Experience is key
There is no one single silver bullet to fix all the various energy needs that exist
in industry today. But wouldn’t it be nice to work with a group that has seen many
different fuels and thermal processes at work? Green Energy Engineering, Inc.
has worked in:
- Pulp mills burning tree bark and black liquor;
- Tooth paste plants burning natural gas and sawdust;
- Soap plants burning coal and oil;
- Chemical plants burning natural gas, light oil, and heavy oil;
- Fertilizer plants burning sulfur and natural gas;
- Oil refineries burning waste gas and oil; and
- Recovery plants burning spent acid.
