Part of the Solution: G&H Green Innovations for a More Sustainable Future

Global sub-sea telecommunications

An optimized underwater cable lifecycle promotes a sustainable outlook by achieving intercontinental connectivity across the globe. Even in the face of larger data consumption, these cable networks still offer an energy-efficient alternative to fossil fuel heavy transport such as air travel required for face-to-face meetings.

G&H, through its extensive heritage in fiber optics, delivers low-loss, high-reliability fused fiber couplers that have been used extensively to form the global undersea telecommunications network that host 99% of the world’s data traffic.

From a sustainability viewpoint, it is important to also recognize the carbon footprint that submarine cable networks leave behind through their lifecycle, which is comprised of manufacturing, placement, operation, maintenance, and, eventually, retirement. That is why the G&H HI REL ruggedized couplers line has been designed to withstand the harshest underwater conditions, where the costs of component replacement are prohibitive and reliability is of a main concern.

Terrestrial climate observation and sensing

Following the exchange of water, energy and carbon in Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems is facilitated by optically powered technology which translates optical input into useful data about climate conditions. For this purpose, G&H produces low loss, terrestrial fused fiber couplers, Fiber-Q® components and modular assemblies that have a rugged hermetic design and an excellent stability in both polarization-maintaining (PM) and non-PM formats. They have become an industry standard for applications in high performance wind LIDAR instruments that measure and detect wind energy, air quality and other important meteorological data.

For example, wind farms utilize LIDAR technology to detect and predict gusts of wind. This information is then used to optimize and protect large assets such as wind turbines from stresses by carefully choosing the turbine location. In turn, this approach prolongs the life of the respective wind turbines, all while reducing running and repair costs. Other applications of similar sensing technology include the detection of potential biodiversity loss and land degradation.

Extraction efficiency

Until feasible fuel alternatives are available on a wider scale, we need to improve existing extraction practices and steer current extraction machines in a greener direction.

The same Fiber-Q® and fused fiber couplers from G&H are used in distributed optical fiber sensing systems deployed in harsh environments such as oil and gas wells or bore holes. They are also incorporated into remote access spaces such as oil and gas pipelines, ensuring that the most efficient extraction and protection (including leak detection) of oil and gas assets is possible. This effort also targets waste minimalization and environmental pollution prevention.

Industrial lasers

Laser technology stands at the core of industrial processes. That is why its importance within the sustainability chain cannot be understated, as highlighted by Jim Kafka, Emeritus Fellow at MKS and Spectra-Physics: “An integral part of tackling climate change is the transition to green energy and sustainable living. Lasers are, and will continue to be, an indispensable tool for the manufacturing of technologies central to that transition, such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. What’s more, lasers lie at the heart of other technologies, such as optical sensors and lidar-based environmental mapping, that hold key roles in addressing numerous climate challenges such as water supply and food sustainability. In short, the rapid transformation to a more climate-friendly world simply can’t happen without the help of lasers.”

Our Fiber-Q® and accompanying fiber optic couplers have been extensively used in high-energy efficient, low-power materials processing for a variety of applications. As a result, the end laser solution uses less power for its activity and wastes less material throughout the process.

Nuclear fusion

The advent of nuclear fusion represents one giant forward leap for the sustainability movement. Its eventual takeoff as an achievable physical process will mark the most exciting pivot point for the entire energy industry, promising large scale, cost-effective, low-carbon power.

Some of the immediate benefits listed by ITER of nuclear fusion for the environment are: access to abundant energy, an operative time of more than 1,000,000 years considering the lithium reserves in seas, no CO₂ emissions, no long-lived radioactive waste, limited risk of proliferation, and no risk of meltdown.

Advanced fusion technologies are dependent on fiber optics for crucial processes such as plasma diagnosis, temperature sensing, strain measurements and data transmission.

The plight for a better and more sustainable development is a multi-faceted process that includes a weighing technological component. At G&H, we choose to be part of the solution, from employing an improved eco-management to delivering high performance solutions that ultimately help make the world better. We firmly stand by this commitment, with more ambitious sustainable goals to come.