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When American energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon envisioned the first offshore wind farm lining the horizon a few miles off the coast of the eastern...
When American energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon envisioned the first offshore wind farm lining the horizon a few miles off the coast of the eastern...
- 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...
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- March 2021 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
Making Impact Investing Markets: IFC (A)
By: Shawn A. Cole, John Masko and T. Robert Zochowski
In 2017, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) faced the first big investment decision in its new Scaling Solar project. Founded in 1956, IFC was an international investment body with national governments as shareholders, whose mission was to promote economic...
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Keywords:
Development Economics;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Renewable Energy;
Climate Change;
Environmental Sustainability;
Borrowing and Debt;
Credit;
Equity;
Bonds;
Financing and Loans;
Growth and Development;
Emerging Markets;
Non-Governmental Organizations;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Financial Services Industry;
Energy Industry;
Zambia
- February 2021
- Case
Yellow Digital Retailers, Ltd.: Providing Solar Electricity to Transform Rural Africa
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Frank V. Cespedes and Michael Norris
In 2020, Mike Heyink and Maya Stewart, co-founders of the Pay-as-you-Go Solar company Yellow were considering how to grow their startup. They had achieved some success in their first market, Malawi, and had recently entered Uganda, where business was slower. What did...
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- November 2020
- Case
Holaluz: Taking on the Spanish Energy Market
By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg, Elena Corsi and Emer Moloney
In 2020, the three cofounders of Holaluz, a newcomer to Spain’s electricity retail market, are preparing to launch a new offering: installing and managing solar panels on households' roofs at no extra cost for the consumer, who would still benefit from the energy...
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- September 2020 (Revised November 2020)
- Case
d.light
By: Michael Chu, Krishna G. Palepu and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha
Kenyan off-grid-solar pioneer d.light can power entire homes in rural Africa but must now decide how to fund the growth of its asset-heavy business model. Ned Tozun and Sam Goldman founded d.light in 2006 to transform lives through solar solutions enabling access to...
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- September 2020
- Case
GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In June 2020, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) presented its report to the California Energy Commission indicating that its proof of concept project to demonstrate its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G™, had been a success. While conventional...
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- July 2020
- Case
CSL Capital Management: Patriot Proppants (A)
By: Victoria Ivashina and Yury Kapko
This two-part case series follows CSL Capital’s 2009 investment in the greenfield manufacturing company, Patriot Proppants. CSL, a recently established investment firm, employs a unique investment model, funding new ("green field") energy service businesses that serve...
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- July 2020
- Supplement
CSL Capital Management: Patriot Proppants (B)
By: Victoria Ivashina and Yury Kapko
This two-part case series follows CSL Capital’s 2009 investment in the greenfield manufacturing company, Patriot Proppants. CSL, a recently established investment firm, employs a unique investment model, funding new ("greenfield") energy service businesses that serve...
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- Guest Column
Who's Afraid of 100%?
By: Jurgen Weiss
The articles describes 100% renewable/clean energy systems and argues that they may be less costly and easier to achieve than is often argued in the industry.
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- February 2020 (Revised March 2020)
- Case
Prime Coalition: Catalytic Capital for Climate Innovation
By: Ramana Nanda, Benjamin N. Roth and Olivia Hull
With long development timelines and high risk, new energy technologies were often left to languish in the “valley of death,” unable to raise enough funds to bring a product to market. In 2014, Sarah Kearney founded the nonprofit Prime Coalition to solve this problem....
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Keywords:
Energy Conservation;
Renewable Energy;
Social Entrepreneurship;
Venture Capital;
Investment;
Innovation and Invention;
Technological Innovation;
Mission and Purpose;
Science-Based Business;
Nonprofit Organizations;
Social Enterprise;
Energy Industry;
Technology Industry;
Green Technology Industry;
United States
- January 2020
- Background Note
Climate Change in 2020: Implications for Business
By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Sophus A. Reinert and Mariana Oseguera
This note provides general information about climate change and its implications for business. Included is an overview of climate change science and a number of its impacts, including rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and extreme weather, pressure on water...
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Keywords:
Climate Change;
Environmental Accounting;
Agribusiness;
Economic Growth;
Energy Conservation;
Energy Generation;
Renewable Energy;
Energy Sources;
Non-Renewable Energy;
Globalized Markets and Industries;
National Security;
Government Legislation;
Operations;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Problems and Challenges;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Natural Disasters;
Natural Environment;
Environmental Sustainability;
Pollutants;
Science-Based Business;
Weather;
Society;
Technology
- 2 Dec 2019
- Other Presentation
Increasing Solar Power
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Abby Hopper
Is increasing solar power the answer? Abby Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Professor Joe Lassiter discuss how to deliver reliable, clean, low cost power for people everywhere.
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- November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
- Case
Russia: A Drama In Three Acts
By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella, Galit Goldstein and Sogomon Tarontsi
The collapse of central authority in the Soviet Union in 1991 ushered in a period of revolutionary transformations for the states that emerged in its wake. The leaders of Russia, the USSR's successor, struggled to reestablish central authority while also seeking to...
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Keywords:
Business ＆ Government Relations;
Developing Countries;
Government Policy;
Policy Change;
Policy Making;
Economic Systems;
Economics;
Globalization;
Emerging Markets;
Privatization;
Non-Renewable Energy;
Governance;
Global Strategy;
Corporate Governance;
Policy;
Business History;
Lawfulness;
Problems and Challenges;
Business and Government Relations;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Strategy;
Change Management;
Russia;
Moscow
- 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...
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- September 2019
- Case
Shell: A Company of Opportunity?
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Emer Moloney
The Opportunity Hub was a cloud-based platform that enabled managers to market projects they were working on and associated resourcing needs as “Opportunity Owners” and employees, or “Opportunity Seekers,” to browse these statements of need and engage when they had...
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Keywords:
Business Divisions;
Change Management;
Competency and Skills;
Experience and Expertise;
Talent and Talent Management;
Energy;
Energy Sources;
Non-Renewable Energy;
Renewable Energy;
Human Resources;
Employees;
Retention;
Collaborative Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Strategy;
Technological Innovation;
Jobs and Positions;
Job Design and Levels;
Knowledge Sharing;
Knowledge;
Knowledge Use and Leverage;
Labor;
Human Capital;
Labor Unions;
Leading Change;
Resource Allocation;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Performance Evaluation;
Performance Productivity;
Strategic Planning;
Projects;
Motivation and Incentives;
Business Strategy;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Technology Platform;
Chemical Industry;
Energy Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
Technology Industry;
United Kingdom;
Netherlands
- September 2019
- Case
Clean Energy for the Future
By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Howaida Kamel
This is an industry note on renewable energy – wind, solar, governmental incentives and storage. It covers the recent history of both the wind and solar industries, an extensive look at governmental policies in the United States, including the Green New Deal, and...
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- July 2019 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Acelerex
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In early 2019, Randell Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive of Acelerex, was reflecting on the company’s first year of rapid growth and the challenges of scaling the business that lay ahead. Acelerex was riding the waves of change taking place in electrical power grids...
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- May 2019
- Case
Elon Musk's Big Bets Update, 2019
By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
This short case provides an update to Elon Musk's strategy and tactical moves with Tesla, Solar City, and SpaceX from 2016-2019.
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Keywords:
Electric Vehicles;
Batteries;
Solar Power;
Execution;
Space Flight;
Tesla;
Solarcity;
Spacex;
Elon Musk;
Technology;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Expansion;
Renewable Energy;
Strategy;
Investment;
Manufacturing Industry;
Green Technology Industry;
Auto Industry;
Aerospace Industry;
Battery Industry
- January 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
CrossBoundary Energy
By: John Macomber
Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable...
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Keywords:
Energy Investing;
Economic Development;
Renewable Energy;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Project Finance;
Emerging Markets;
Industry Structures;
Infrastructure;
Segmentation;
Private Equity;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Energy Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Africa;
Tanzania;
Ghana
- December 2018
- Case
Good Energy Group PLC
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
Founded at the end of 1999 by Juliet Davenport and Martin Edwards, Good Energy was the number-two renewable-energy seller in the United Kingdom at the end of 2016, supplying over 71,000 of the country’s 27 million households and small businesses with 100% renewable...
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Keywords:
Power/energy;
Green Energy;
Renewables;
Wind Power;
Electricity;
Power;
Strategy Development;
Electric Vehicles;
Customer Service;
Energy Policy;
Barriers To Entry;
Renewable Energy;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Competitive Strategy;
Business and Government Relations;
Problems and Challenges;
Strategy;
Energy Industry;
United Kingdom