When I watch Dr Ronald and Ron Koelsch work elbow-to-elbow with their engineers, with their suppliers, with their partners, and with their customers, every day, I am in awe, similar to how I feel when I see "The Donald" win another election against all odds. The Koelsch brothers have a lot working against them, but they have an unwavering commitment to their mission to help America maintain its position as the energy superpower of the world, all while cleaning the air.

The Koelsch brothers invented and engineered a proven-resilient zero emission reefer TRU and microgrid that are all, miraculously, based on low voltage DC power, which also sets a completely safe standard for all the humans working for food distributors and cold storage operations, and all the humans who live in the community. Anyone walking into AEM's R&D and manufacturing facility can feel it - they are passionate patriots with a mission to bring resilience to the food industry, to make the numbers work well for their customers, and to do their part to clean the air. Plus, their technology is engineered and made in the USA, but just as President Trump has been up against some powerful odds, so has AEM, but they keep surprising their constituents with wins.

While AEM has been burning lots of calories, and burning the midnight oil, proving "its underdog self" since 2009, and serving some of the largest food distributors in the country, their competitors have been in the diesel world since the 1940s, and they are goliaths, deeply entrenched into those customers.

AEM is serving the exact same customers in food distribution and cold storage; diligently working on converting all the diesel TRU systems in California, to their zero emission SolarTechTRU systems. If the industry switches from diesel-powered systems to zero emissions systems, there are billions of dollars at stake for the goliaths. The problem is, AEM's technology is turning the diesel TRU market, and the electric TRU market, upside-down. Their systems have been successfully commercialized and proven-viable for more than a decade, but they have a couple of deeply entrenched legacy diesel TRU competitors to unseat. It can get ugly. Frankly, I'd like to see the two big legacy players partnering with AEM. There are many reasons the partnerships would become a win for all.

Three major challenges:

1. The labor force in this area of the food industry are normally siloed, and not crazy about any type of change. The SolarTechTRU conversions make the workplace significantly cleaner, quieter, and safer, plus, there's no plugin burdens, everything is IoT-based, and there's less maintenance.

2. The distribution centers and cold storage facilities are under regulatory deadlines, but there's a multi-year wait for grid / electricity infrastructure, it's high voltage, and it's expensive, and it's very dangerous. AEM innovated a cost-effective solution for this issue, and it benefits its customers year-over-year.

While a "green revolution" like this makes great economic sense when it comes to TRU conversions, the food companies are investing many years and many millions into it, so they need to know these "modern" vendors will have the capacity to fulfill the demand, and that they'll be around to support the equipment and the technology for the long haul.

Triple Threat:

1. AEM's tech is all based on low voltage DC, which is unregulated, completely safe for human interface, no electrocutions, and it solves a major infrastructure bottleneck for its customers.

2. Despite how expensive AEM's zero emission systems should be, AEM has made the numbers work. Between all the tax, solar, LCFS, and other incentives, financing terms, and the fact these systems completely eliminate some of food distributor's major expense line items, the ROI is almost immediate, and the improvements in the balance sheet sustain, year-over-year.

3. The SolarTechTRU system is intentionally engineered for resilience. AEM customers can keep delivering, and refrigerating food, even through a blackout. No range anxiety, no plugins, no more diesel fuel soot, or expenses.

Thermo King and Carrier are the legacy players who have owned almost 100% of the diesel-powered reefer market between them, since the beginning of time. They've both entered the zero emission space in recent years, but they have not developed anything near AEM's technology. The electric systems Thermo King and Carrier have been developing are based on high voltage AC, which is known to be volatile, dangerous, and deadly. These all-electric systems also require frequent plugins, which triggers range anxiety, and causes operational downtime. These systems also pull energy from the semi-truck tractor - which causes increased consumption of the tractor's diesel fuel, or it depletes the battery life of the EV tractor.

So now what? We have a new republican president, and a good amount of carbon-reduction momentum around California, and a critical handful of other states. We have states like California with aggressive zero emission goals, and organizations like California Air Resources Board (CARB), and countless others, performing studies that conclude that emissions from diesel fuel are sickening and killing people, and CARB is regulating TRUs. CARB has determined that one TRU emits 27 tons of black carbon per year, and three tons of this emission particulate matter (PM) kills one person a year.

Three interesting key opportunities:

1. President Trump and his administration can win some "green points" by jumping on this "green revolution" focused in on clean air and carbon-reduction for essential food storage and distribution. This is not about "climate change". This is far more black and white, measurable, and immediate. It's about essential resilience and measurably cleaning the air by the tons of black carbon, just by focusing-in on reefer TRUs. Plus, the associated microgrids are reducing, and eliminating, the distribution centers' burden on the grid, and it's helping their balance sheets too.

2. Thermo King and Carrier and AEM would benefit from partnering. This is like when Netflix approached Blockbuster to partner. AEM is Netflix in this equation. Blockbuster was the big boy. Thermo King and Carrier are the big boys. They have the multi-decade customer relationships, they have the multiple locations, the support fulfillment capabilities, the logistics knowledge, while AEM has the "next generation" solution, tried and true, ready for the proverbial hockey stick.

3. President Trump can keep ITC and STC tax and other incentives flowing, and unite the parties by embracing this multi-billion dollar TRU piece of the "green revolution", which also helps make America resilient through the worst scenarios. President Trump can get written up in the history books (literally) as the president who drove the "green revolution" and enabled big industry to "go green in the black" AND who measurably cleaned our air by the thousands of tons of deadly diesel emissions during his term, (and every year thereafter). A legacy, surprisingly homed-in on these pesky little TRUs. Everyone wins.

Will someone please tell The Donald about AEM?

[email protected]

www.aem.green

We have reefer fleets going green in the black! Even President Trump would love AEM's SolarTechTRU, the low voltage DC microgrids, the automatic charging pads; all innovated and engineered in the USA.