Using AI to Optimize Energy Demand
- 20 NOV 2024
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- Climate Rising
In this episode, host Mike Toffel speaks with Pasi Miettinen, CEO of Sagewell, a company
that uses AI to help utilities and their customers manage energy demand efficiently.
Pasi explains how Sagewell’s technology helps reduce peak electricity usage, which
in turn lowers energy costs and lessens climate impact. He also discusses how smart
data analytics can identify energy-saving opportunities and the importance of AI in
optimizing energy usage patterns. Pasi provides insights on the challenges and successes
in the utility sector and shares career advice for those looking to work in AI and
clean energy.
In this episode, host Mike Toffel speaks with Pasi Miettinen, CEO of Sagewell, a company
that uses AI to help utilities and their customers manage energy demand efficiently.
Pasi explains how Sagewell’s technology helps reduce peak electricity usage, which
in turn lowers energy costs and lessens climate impact. He also discusses how smart
data analytics can identify energy-saving opportunities and the importance of AI in
optimizing energy usage patterns. Pasi provides insights on the challenges and successes
in the utility sector and shares career advice for those looking to work in AI and
clean energy.
Harvard Hires Eight New Climate Faculty – With More on the Horizon
Re: Aliya Korganbekova & John Mulliken
- 12 Nov 2024
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- Harvard Gazette
How Giving Forests Legal Rights Can Help the Fight Against Climate Change
Re: Rebecca Henderson
- 11 Nov 2024
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- World Economic Forum
How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis
Re: John Macomber
- 08 Nov 2024
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- HBS Working Knowledge
Coordinating the Energy Transition: Electrifying Transportation in California and Germany
- DECEMBER 2024
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- Energy Policy
California and Germany share ambitious emission reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in California and Germany explains the different outcomes. Transforming energy systems requires coordination across various complementary technologies and infrastructures—here between the supply of electric vehicles and the buildout of charging stations. In California, a strong electrification coalition emerged across automakers selling electric vehicles as well as utilities and third-party firms providing charging infrastructure. Power market rules made capital investments for charging infrastructure instantly profitable for California monopoly utilities. By contrast, in Germany's liberalized power market, investing in capital-intensive charging infrastructure was not profitable for electric utilities. As a result, utilities did not emerge as a political force in the electrification coalition. Instead, utilities and automakers were in gridlock, failing to coordinate electric vehicle rollout and public charging station buildout. Our findings highlight the limits of business-led coordination, raising the question which institutions help address coordination failures in clean energy transitions.
How Robust Is Your Climate Governance?
- NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2024
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- Harvard Business Review
During the past few years, as evidence of climate change and its effects has mounted, many corporate boards have added climate governance to their agendas. But the maturity of boards’ climate-oversight processes and activities varies widely. To better understand how climate issues are being handled in the boardroom and to determine what good climate governance looks like in practice, the authors interviewed 20 directors who hold leadership positions on the boards of S&P 500 companies. Drawing from those interviews and other research, they identify eight hallmarks of meaningful climate oversight. For example, “the board is knowledgeable about the company’s climate profile,” “the board has the expertise needed for effective climate oversight,” and “the board can articulate the company’s climate positioning and strategy.” The authors also offer their perspective on the set of issues associated with each hallmark that corporate leaders must grapple with as they decide how to incorporate climate issues into their company’s governance. Climate concerns are here to stay, and climate governance will increasingly be seen as a core element of good governance.
How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis
- 08 NOV 2024
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- Op-Ed
Africa faces escalating climate risks that threaten its people and businesses. While governments and development finance institutions lack the capital to address these challenges, John Macomber argues that private investors could play a pivotal role in developing adaptation projects that provide strong returns.
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