Automation Fair panelists map our low-carbon future

During an exclusive press event, Rockwell Automation handed the mic to industry leaders to share their strategies for advancing sustainable initiatives. Subject matter experts highlighted bold, innovative approaches to driving circular manufacturing, improving regulatory compliance and reframing what it means to operate responsibly in a low-carbon future.

The following Q&A captures the insights and perspectives. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity. First, let’s meet the panel: 

• Panelist: Tony Wibbeler, CEO, Founder, Bolder Industries (rightmost in image). Bolder Industries transforms discarded tires destined for landfills by giving the raw materials new life. Focusing on polymers, Bolder depolymerizes scrap rubber into gas, liquid and solid outputs. With operations in Missouri, Indiana and a new site under construction in Antwerp, the company emphasizes tight process control and global standardization. Bolder has maintained 100% in-spec product since 2019 and is partnering with Rockwell Automation to replicate that precision as it scales operations internationally.
• Panelist: Derek Kramer, COO, Utility Global (center in image). Houston-based Utility Global has developed a decarbonization tool for industries under pressure to decarbonize. Its proprietary electrochemical module (ECM) is aimed at hard-to-abate industries such as petrochemicals and steel. ECM splits carbon monoxide and steam from waste streams in an electrochemical reaction, rather than energy-heavy electrolysis. The output is near-pure hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which can be recycled back into the plant or redirected to mobility markets. Additionally, captured carbon dioxide can be sequestered or used in carbon capture initiatives.
• Panelist: Bill Zierolf, Director, Commercial Operations, Circulor (leftmost in image). Circulor delivers end-to-end materials traceability through its software as a service (SaaS) platform, tracking critical minerals from processors to battery components. The system ensures compliance with battery passport regulations, serving major automakers like Volvo, BMW, Ford, GM and Tesla.
• Moderator: Stan Miller, Head of Public Relations, EMEA, Rockwell Automation

Q: Derek, what regulatory or market forces are shaping the adoption of clean hydrogen and how is Utility Global responding?

A: It might be easier to ask which ones aren't. The majority of them really are shaping the adoption of clean hydrogen—especially in the EU and in the Asia markets where there are severe consequences for not being able to take your CI [carbon intensity] scores down.

Steel manufacturers, for example, are really challenged with finding ways to take those scores down and be competitive at the same time. It’s not an easy thing to do, given that the international market has a lot of subsidies they’re combating on a consistent basis.

So how do you walk and chew gum at the same time? How do you bring down your CI score while at the same time still staying economically capable of competing on the global stage?

We’re actually a cure for it, and can help bring their CI scores down economically. We can accomplish two things at the same time. We can go from scope 1 to scope 3 emissions reductions and help them meet their regulatory requirements.

Q: Tony, in a similar vein, how do the evolving environmental regulations and circular economy policies influence innovation at Bolder Industries?

A: They have a significant impact, particularly in the EU right now. End-of-life producer responsibilities are being [pushed onto] tire companies, [requiring them to] be responsible for those tires once they're finished. That's a big piece of it.

Individual regions are banning the use of tire-derived fuel, such as tire chips. That’s an incredibly big driving force, along with the push for a circular economy.

In general, the market is tight for carbon black and [for fuels with] biogenic content, both of which are key to our business. So that really drives to our circularity. And now we're seeing that pressure being extended to OEMs. We’re looking at bills right now that place responsibility on the OEMs.

For us, working through that dynamic is key. We can actually solve much of it – like Derek described – scope 1 through scope 3 supply emissions. About 40% of the carbon black that's used in the United States is imported from outside sources.

Having local sources is vital. Not just in the U.S. but also local to the Benelux area, for example. Local access to raw materials that are non-petroleum-based is an advantage and central to what we do.

Q: As a follow-up, Tony, when we explore operational challenges and solutions, what are the environmental benefits of transforming end-of-life tires into circular products like BolderBlack, BolderOil? How does advanced automation help drive those outcomes?

A: Consistency is key. In our business, quality is equal to consistency. Consistency equals quality. Automation really helps with that. Another interesting aspect of automation is that no one has ever done what we do. I can't hire someone with direct experience. For us, automation is a critical part of our training process and workforce development. When our number one cost is labor, reducing it is a critical part of our automation platform, and the reason that we're investing so deeply with Rockwell Automation right now.

Q: Thanks Tony. Derek, in the same category of operational challenges and solutions, what challenges must be overcome for large scale adoption of clean hydrogen. And how does automation play a role?

A: Cost, cost, cost. So, for the adoption of hydrogen, the way we generate it is certainly much more cost-effective than prior solutions. But then again, those economic headwinds now facing large steel industry producers, on top of petrochemicals and other hard-to-abate industry verticals are significant.

For us to remain viable, we not only need to reduce the CI score, as I mentioned before, but we also need to deliver an economic advantage. We must be able to produce hydrogen at a levelized cost that is lower than what it would cost them to source hydrogen elsewhere.

So that puts us in a pretty tough spot, where our technology is now competing against existing practices and introducing a new capital investment at the same time. It has to equal out to lower total cost of ownership or total implementation cost. We're able to do that, but it’s a big sell for a new company to come in and be able to do something at scale.

In the past, hydrogen producers came in with electrolyzers and made the same pitch, but they could not get over the economic hurdle. As we approach them newly as Utility Global, we're reintroducing hydrogen in a different way to overcome the biggest economic hold-ups.

Q: Bill, what are the main barriers for manufacturers when it comes to implementing robust traceability frameworks, and how can technology help overcome some of those challenges?

A: A major challenge is getting visibility into the upstream supply chain and convincing suppliers to share data. Many suppliers view their processes as proprietary and are reluctant to disclose information. Our approach is that we work with those suppliers to prove materials traceability. And obviously, compliance is a driver.

To address those concerns, we conduct a lot of educational sessions. We sign data privacy agreements and ensure the data is only going to be used for this specific purpose. And we take the technology barriers out of the way. Rockwell Automation helps us with the implementation part of it. So it's education, it's technology, it's processes that circumvent those barriers.

For many customers, this has been done with spreadsheets—tracking bills of material, invoices, and shipment data. Calculating carbon emissions across multiple suppliers is a very cumbersome process. As a SaaS company, we help automate those processes and bring the cost down.

Q: Beyond compliance, Bill, what business benefits does supply chain transparency offer to manufacturers and their stakeholders?

A: I mentioned defect management—being able to identify defects and trace them to the original material or source. Second is decarbonization. We're doing a project now with Hitachi Rail in Italy. The two big materials in electric trains are batteries and aluminum. We're illuminating their upstream supply chain—where the material is coming from, who processes it—and we capture the carbon dioxide at each step in that manufacturing process.

Picture a grid of an upstream supply chain: the bigger circles represent suppliers with higher emissions. That visibility allows manufacturers to work directly with those suppliers to remediate and take credit for reductions toward their 2030 goals. Also, some materials are manufactured better, faster, cheaper than others.

Third, we’ve seen customers use supply transparency as a marketing advantage. Volvo, for instance, uses the digital battery passport we provide to them to produce a QR code with very detailed technical specs on the battery itself for service and repairs. And then we create a consumer-based QR code with summary data that goes on the door jamb; consumers can scan that and see the battery was responsibly produced.

And the last one I'll share with you is recyclers. One client takes in used batteries and produces “black mass,” a shiny black mixture of key battery components. They use our platform as digital proof that they're creating black mass responsibly, tracking heat waste and other factors.

Q: Derek, I have a big question for you. What impact will clean hydrogen have on the reliability and sustainability of energy systems worldwide?

A: Big impact! Hydrogen is three times more potent than natural gas. But natural gas is more accessible and part of common use today. But once we get hydrogen established as a mainstay, you're talking about cutting consumption requirements by two thirds, and literally none of the fugitive emissions that you get with natural gas. It's that much cleaner, it's that much more potent.

The challenge is, it’s not buried underneath Permian sands. Hydrogen must become a more commonly produced molecule that can generate energy with a lower CI score, replacing the methane that is consumed today.

Q: Tony, what do you see as the future of circular manufacturing and its role in a broader low carbon transition?

A: Rather than circular or sustainable, the word I'm starting to use is responsible. At a basic level, it’s how our moms or grandmas used things: the bread bag from lunch became your next lunch bag until it wore out. That’s the mindset we need—otherwise, we’ll continue to overconsume natural resources.

Think about the valuable products we manufacture: all those hydrocarbons are still in there. Circularity is about getting back to responsible behavior, starting with responsible manufacturing. As manufacturing becomes more localized, leveraging these resources efficiently becomes even more critical.

For example, at Bolder, our biggest impact on our greenhouse gas emissions, offsets, water offsets, electric fuel offsets is that we're reusing petroleum.

Consider that 87% of a tire is petroleum-derived. If we reclaimed that and gave it another life over and over again, that's the best miles per gallon you can really get. Bolder is not just in the tire business. We're a transformative, circular materials manufacturer, and you'll see us applying the same principles of circularity to many other materials as we grow our business.