Publications

June 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

The Fox Islands Wind Project (A)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, James Thomas Corcoran, Max Gazor, Dylan Hogarty and Alexander H. Somers, Jr.

The market for electricity on the Fox Islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven, Maine is unique and costly for residents. Historically, electricity prices on the islands had been three times the national average because of the high cost of importing electricity via an... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Cost; Financing and Loans; Projects; Business and Community Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Maine

Guest Column

Decarbonizing Economy Requires Lot More Electricity: Big Ramp-ups in Solar, Wind Power Are Needed

By: Jurgen Weiss

The column summarizes the findings of a report prepared for the Coalition for Community Solar Access, which concludes that to achieve New England's 2050 economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals would require increasing the annual deployments of new... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Electricity; Renewable Energy; Green Technology; New England

September 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

ReMo Energy: Sizing Up Investors

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Tom Quinn

In 2023, executives with ReMo Energy (founded 2020) were deciding which size ammonia plant to build as their first project. Their innovative model produced ammonia—useful for making fertilizer and for energy storage—from renewable energy, and they had received funding... View Details

April 2024
Article

Model-based Financial Regulations Impair the Transition to Net-zero Carbon Emissions

By: Matteo Gasparini, Matthew C. Ives, Ben Carr, Sophie Fry and Eric Beinhocker

Investments via the financial system are essential for fostering the green transition. However, the role of existing financial regulations in influencing investment decisions is understudied. Here we analyse data from the European Banking Authority to show that... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Sources

February 2015
Case

Continental Hope Group

By: Christopher Marquis and Qi Li

This case provides an opportunity to examine and discuss how a traditional Chinese private business was launched and developed into a globalizing, multi-industry corporation. It also highlights how second generation entrepreneurs successfully developed an innovative... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; China; Technology; Real Estate; Talent Retention; Incentives; Talent and Talent Management; Diversification; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; China

Research Summary

Papers in progress

“The ‘Carbon Club’: Oil Companies, Climate Change & the Shaping of Public Policy”. Conspiracy theories abound, but the roles of the major oil companies in influencing public policy on climate change remain largely obscure. This... View Details

07 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

What Environmental Ratings Miss

Keywords: by Auden Schendler & Michael Toffel

17 Dec 2021
Blog Post

Student Conference: Climate Symposium 2021

provided by public and private markets. 2. There is no silver bullet solution and we need to be all-in on all solutions. Throughout the conference, we discussed numerous solutions to fight climate change, ranging from fusion energy to... View Details

Forthcoming
Article

Measurement and Effects of Bank Exit Policies

By: Daniel Green and Boris Vallée

We study whether exit policies by financial institutions have financial and real consequences on the firms they target, using bank coal exit policies as a laboratory. In contrast to theories assuming high capital substitutability, we find large effects of these... View Details

Keywords: Coal Power; Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking; Policy; Energy Industry

Web

Alumni

industry leaders, the energy in the room was a powerful reminder of what makes the HBS network so extraordinary. We are excited to continue our road trip in London on June 19th! #HBSinSF #HBSAlumni #HBSNetwork @HBSAlumni @hbsalumni... View Details

August 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Highland Capital Partners: Investing in Cleantech

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

One day during the summer of 2008, Paul Maeder, co-founder and general partner of Highland Capital Partners (HCP), was walking with his wife around Reykjavik, Iceland, marveling at how clean the city felt and at the widespread use of naturally occurring geothermal... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Global Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; Green Technology Industry

January 23, 2020
Article

Sanctions and the End of Trans-Atlanticism: Iran, Russia, and the Unintended Division of the West

By: Rawi Abdelal and Aurélie Bros

Sanctions have become the dominant tool of statecraft in the United States and other Western states, especially the European Union, since the end of the Cold War. But the systematic use of this instrument may produce unintended and somewhat paradoxical geopolitical... View Details

Keywords: Geopolitics; Economic Sanctions; International Relations; United States; Russia; Iran; Europe

February 2004 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Fuel Cells: The Hydrogen Revolution?

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Ryland Matthew Willis

The challenges faced in establishing hydrogen fuel cell-powered transportation in the United States, which promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on imported oil is examined. Foremost among these challenges is a "chicken-and-egg" dynamic: consumers... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Environmental Sustainability; Infrastructure; Government Administration; Energy Sources; Business and Government Relations; Network Effects; Transportation; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; European Union; Japan; United States

Find at Harvard

2017
Working Paper

Business and Sustainability: New Business History Perspectives

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist

This working paper provides a long-term business history perspective on environmental sustainability. For a long time, the central issues addressed in the discipline of business history concerned how business enterprises innovated and created wealth, as well as... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business History; Perspective

SSRN

04 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 4

Increasing Energy Efficiency through Normative Influence (B) Maarten W. Bos, Amy J.C. Cuddy, and Kyle T. DohertyHarvard Business School Supplement 911-061 The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

CPP Investments—The Road to Zero

By: Vikram Gandhi and Radhika Kak

In February 2022, Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, the investment management organization that managed funds for the CPP, one of the biggest pension plans in the world, announced a net-zero commitment for its portfolio by 2050. Under its CEO, John Graham, it... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Asset Management; Investment Portfolio; Leading Change; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California

George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He co-leads a Lab, within Harvard's Digital, Data, Design Institute, that focuses on organizational transformation through major shifts, including those... View Details

Keywords: green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology

June 2024
Supplement

Climate Governance at Linde plc (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In July 2023, the Linde plc board of directors' sustainability committee convened in London to review the company's environmental performance, with a focus on decarbonization and clean energy. Linde was the world's largest industrial gas supplier, with a workforce of... View Details