GSBGEN 536

Business Models for Sustainable Energy

Graduate School of Business

Recommended for route(s):

[ Academia ] Environmental Law: General

General course Description:

Transforming the global energy system to reduce climate change impacts, ensure security of supply, and foster economic development of the world's poorest regions depends on the ability of commercial players to deliver the needed energy at scale. Technological innovation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for this to occur. The complex institutional frameworks that regulate energy markets in the United States and around the world will play a major role in determining the financial viability of firms in the energy sector. In this course we survey the institutional contexts for energy enterprises of all types and consider what kinds of business models work in each setting. We will study the business models pursued by small and large companies to: develop and deploy breakthrough low-carbon energy technology, evolve smart grids, extract energy in politically-unstable regions, support national goals without compromising core businesses (for the case of state-owned enterprises), build out critically-needed electricity and pipeline infrastructure, and bring clean and reliable energy to the poorest populations. Particular attention will be paid to ways in which the institutional environments and challenges in major emerging markets like China and India differ from those in the United States. The objective of the course is to provide a robust intellectual framework for analyzing how a business can most constructively participate in any sector like energy that is heavily affected by government policy.

Instructors:

Frank A. Wolak, Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development

Mark Thurber, Assistant Director for Research, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development

Course Style: A Substantive/ Perspective course looks at law from an external or non-traditional standpoint.

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