Publications

01 Dec 2016
News

Ask the Expert: Energy’s Next Era

© d20/ZUMA © d20/ZUMA Governments across the globe are getting serious about weaning themselves off of fossil fuels. Denmark has pledged to be powered solely by renewable energy by 2050; Sweden pledged to... View Details

July 2009
Teaching Note

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Strategy (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note for [809004]. View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development; Financing and Loans; Investment; Emerging Markets; Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Singapore; Kuwait; China

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

Earth Day focuses the world's attention on the both the dangers and opportunities facing the planet. But sustainability and the intersection between business and the environment are issues that need to be addressed all the time, as cities grow, resources diminish, and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

07 Jan 2016
News

Helping Property Owners Reduce Their Carbon Footprint

innovative approach. “I have been in renewable energy for about five years now, and I joined CleanFund about a year ago as CEO, in order to help the company unleash a financial technology that will make a... View Details

03 Feb 2021
News

Power Play

Courtesy Rahul Advani Courtesy Sara Graziano Courtesy Chris Smith Courtesy Rahul Advani Courtesy Sara Graziano Courtesy Chris Smith When Rahul Advani (MBA 2004) began his investment career in 1997, focused on the energy sector, he thought... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

04 Sep 2019
News

A Climate Change Optimist

Verizon’s move to shift its energy use to 50 percent renewables by 2025, and supply chain programs to increase carbon sequestration through soil health initiatives with companies like Danone and Cargill:... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photo by Seth Lowe

06 Dec 2021
News

New Wave

depends on tidal currents just as wind farms depend on wind. Like wind and solar energy, tidal and other forms of marine power such as wave energy consume no fossil fuels and produce no carbon emissions, yet they are far more reliable... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Chris Sorensen

20 Jan 2017
News

Bringing Power to the People

“What we do at Neoen is quite ambitious—we try to bring electricity to people who didn’t have it. “Neoen is a power producer. We produce electricity that comes from renewable energy sources, mostly solar and... View Details

October 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Verengo Solar Plus!

By: William A. Sahlman, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Liz Kind

In the three years since Bishop and Button purchased Verengo in a leveraged buyout (LBO), the company had gone through dramatic changes. Initially a residential windows and insulation firm, after the economic recession of 2008 the company switched gears and began... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Growth Management; Restructuring; Renewable Energy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Product Development; Energy Industry; California

Profile

Charles Jennings

Why was earning your MBA here important to you? Although I was making an impact at my organization, I felt that I wasn't achieving my objectives as quickly or efficiently as I could. Earning an MBA from HBS would provide additional tools to drive faster and more... View Details

Keywords: Energy / Extractive Minerals; Energy / Extractive Minerals; Energy / Extractive Minerals

June 2011
Teaching Note

The Suzlon Edge (TN)

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Teaching Note for 708051. View Details

Keywords: Price; Non-Renewable Energy; Investment; Problems and Challenges; Climate Change; Globalization; Renewable Energy; Inflation and Deflation; Production; Machinery and Machining; Family Ownership; Policy; Energy Industry

19 Sep 2016
News

Sustainable Farming in the Arid World

investing in the sector, I really thought there had to be a better way to go about this business, to create a more stable business, one that takes less of a toll on the environment. “Sundrop Farms is a developer, owner, and operator of protected growing facilities and... View Details

September 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Suntech Power

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suntech, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and solar panels, is the third largest solar company in the world. About 90 percent of its sales have been in Europe—especially Germany and Spain. But with its new "pluto" technology, and with new governmental... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Strategy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; China

01 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Spotlight: Career Advice from Alums Working in Climate

there is a broad ecosystem of what we refer to today as climate tech — from renewable energy to advanced transportation to AgTech to name just a few. From a job function perspective, you can work at an... View Details

Keywords: Energy / Cleantech

06 Nov 2019
Op-Ed

Torched Planet: The Business Case to Reinvent Almost Everything

remain unregulated and renewables remain expensive, allowing them to continue to dominate the energy business. Nearly everyone else can see that this is no longer the most likely scenario, is it? View Details

Keywords: by Rebecca Henderson; Energy

April 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Case

KENETECH Corporation

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves a strategic decision about how fast to ramp up sales. Improvements in technology have driven down the cost of electric power generated from wind turbines to the point where they are competitive with fossil-fuel plants. KENETECH needs to raise equity capital to... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Initial Public Offering; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Going Public; Sales; Competition; Energy Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2011 (Revised April 2018)
Case

1366 Technologies: Scaling the Venture

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Ramana Nanda, David Kiron and Evan Richardson

For some time, 1366's co-founders, Frank van Mierlo and Ely Sachs, had faced a choice, which was now made all the more stark: 1366 could expand to produce silicon wafers itself, raising the required capital from "friendly" investors and building shipment volume slowly,... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Innovation Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Intellectual Property; Management Teams; Renewable Energy; Financial Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Finance; Energy Industry; Technology Industry; United States