Publications

August 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Background Note

Oil: History, Present and Future

By: Jurgen Weiss

This background note is intended to provide context for a discussion of the strategies for big integrated oil companies in light of both oil’s current role in the global energy system and the uncertainty about changes going forward. View Details

Keywords: Oil; Energy Markets; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Decarbonization; Non-Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries

23 Jun 2020
News

Bridging Nigeria's Infrastructure Gap

Keywords: finance; energy; Nigeria; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

09 Mar 2015
HBS Conference

America's Unconventional Energy Opportunity A Win-Win Plan for the Economy, The Environment, and a Lower-Carbon, Cleaner-Energy Future

21 Dec 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #12: Vehicle to Everything - Claire Broido Johnson (MBA 2002), Chief Operating Officer of Fermata Energy

near the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside of Chicago, she dreamed of being a physicist. Instead, she has focused her career on executing “pro climate business solutions.” As the COO of Fermata Energy since March 2022, Claire... View Details

April 2021
Article

Competition and Gender in the Lab vs Field: Experiments from Off-grid Renewable Energy Entrepreneurs in Rural Rwanda

By: Rebecca Klege, Martine Visser, Manuel Barron and Rowan P. Clarke

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10 Oct 2023
Podcast

116. Four Companies Creating a Market for Solar Energy in Nigeria: A Conversation with Efosa Ojomo and Sandy Sanchez

Last June, Efosa Ojomo and Sandy Sanchez were on the podcast to discuss the process of market creation - discovery, distribution, and democratization - and specifically, as it applied to the creation of a market for solar energy in Nigeria. In this new episode, they... View Details

2013
Working Paper

Overcoming Organizational Barriers to Waste Heat Recovery

By: Chonnikarn Fern Jira and Deishin Lee

Waste heat recovery is a proven technology for improving energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of energy-intensive manufacturing firms. However, evidence suggests that opportunities for recovering waste heat are untapped. By showing how the process... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Energy; Capital Budgeting; Waste Heat Recovery; Manufacturing; Energy Industry; Energy Industry

August 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

EnerNOC: DemandSMART

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

EnerNOC is an energy company with an innovative business model: it serves as an intermediary between electric utilities and electricity users. It contracts with electricity users willing to reduce demand during periods of peak energy demand, and sells this as excess... View Details

Keywords: Production Planning; Productivity; Environmental Protection; Energy; Environment; Business Government Relations; Laws And Regulation; Business Model; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Supply Chain Management; Production; Energy Conservation; Energy Industry

April 2021
Teaching Note

GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In June 2020, after ten years of effort, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) demonstrated its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G™. While conventional geothermal electricity only supplied 0.5% of US demand, the new technology promised to increase this... View Details

Keywords: Green Energy; Geothermal; Entrepreneur; Renewables; Geothermal Electricity; Green Technology; Renewable Energy; Energy Generation; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Commercialization

June 2003
Teaching Note

Contractual Innovation in the U.K. Energy Markets: Enron Europe, The Eastern Group, and the Sutton Bridge Project (TN)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

Teaching Note for (9-200-051). View Details

Keywords: Energy Industry; Energy Industry; United Kingdom

March 2019
Article

Economics of Converting Renewable Power to Hydrogen

By: Gunther Glenk and Stefan Reichelstein

The recent sharp decline in the cost of renewable energy suggests that the production of hydrogen from renewable power through a power-to-gas process might become more economical. Here we examine this alternative from the perspective of an investor who considers a... View Details

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30 Dec 2019
Podcast

45. Modernizing Energy Transmission & Distribution Infrastructure for the Development of Sustainable and Resilient Communities, with Jessica O. Matthews

2020 is nearly upon us and here at The Forum we’re delighted to welcome the new year with Jessica O. Matthews, Founder & CEO of Uncharted Power. Jessica, a member of the HBS Class of 2014 and a BSSE alumna, is working to transform the global energy system into a... View Details

August 2013 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Sustainability at Siemens

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Amy C. Edmondson, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Emer Moloney

Describes sustainability efforts at Siemens since arrival of Chief Sustainability Officer, Barbara Kux, in 2008. Asks students to evaluate success of those efforts and outline what the company should do going forward. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Sustainability; Energy Efficiency; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Energy Conservation; Environmental Sustainability; Gender; Electronics Industry

October 2020
Case

1366 Technologies: Surviving in a fast changing world

By: Jurgen Weiss, William A. Sahlman and Joseph B. Lassiter III

Keywords: Solar; Solar Power; Renewable Energy

19 Aug 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #8: The Role of Solar and Wind Farming (and Other Tools) in the United States’ Clean Energy Future

Climate Stories Episode #8: The Role of Solar and Wind Farming (and Other Tools) in the United States’ Clean Energy Future Episode 8 of Climate Stories focuses on HBS alumna Diana Rivera, director of development for Lightsource bp. As a... View Details

January 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

OhmConnect: Energizing the Future

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Jennifer Fonstad and Nicole Tempest Keller

Founded in 2013, OhmConnect was a free consumer web app that alerted customers about peak hours of electricity demand, and paid them to lower their energy use at home during these periods. The company sold the aggregated reductions generated by thousands of households... View Details

Keywords: App Development; Renewable Energy; Electricity Usage; Regulations; VC; Technology; Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC); Scalability; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business Model; Venture Capital; Energy Industry; United States; California; Texas; Europe

September 2016
Teaching Note

Nuclear Energy: An Answer to Climate Change?

By: Michael W. Toffel and Glen W. S. Dowell

This case asks students to take the perspective of a nuclear energy industry association whose objective is convincing politicians and the public about the merits of its industry. The association is considering whether to approach environmental nongovernmental... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Power; Environment; Climate Change; Nonprofit Organizations; Environmental Protection; Environmental Strategy; Energy; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Partners and Partnerships; Alliances; Strategy; Energy Industry; United States

August 2019
Case

The United States and Russia: Gas Rivals in Europe?

By: Rawi Abdelal, Galit Goldstein and Paul Apostolicas

Though the shale revolution transformed the U.S. into the largest producer of petroleum products, it was unclear how much success American exporters would find selling liquefied natural gas on the European energy market. Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian energy... View Details

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Decarbonization; Energy Efficiency; Logistics; Supply Chain; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Governance Compliance; Ship Transportation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe; Asia; North America