RSM2122 Clean Energy: Policy Context and Business Opportunities

Prof Kenneth S. Corts

This page describes the current version of this course, which I have taught more or less annually since 2016.

TARGET AUDIENCE

This course will be of interest to students interested in working in, consulting for, investing in, or founding low-carbon energy and related cleantech businesses. It will also be of interest to students with a general interest in following ongoing developments in technology, policy, and news around the global response to climate change.

COURSE MISSION

At the end of this course, you should have a broad familiarity with the functioning of a variety of energy markets and be able to assess the business prospects of a firm in an energy-related field with a deepened understanding of how the policy and regulatory environments create business opportunities and shape the competitive landscape.

COURSE SCOPE

We will discuss a variety of energy markets and businesses. I will bring an economics and strategy perspective to the analysis, and nearly every day an executive from a firm in these markets will join us to bring practical and topical experience to bear on the subject. The course includes overviews of the economics of policy interventions, the energy policy landscape, and the institutional environment of modern quasi-deregulated energy markets. We then consider different business models for commercialization of specific energy technologies, examining specifically the businesses of our guest speakers, who will span sectors including electricity, transportation, waste, and buildings as well as technologies including wind, solar, biogas, hydrogen, energy storage, electric vehicles, cogeneration, and others.

DAILY SCHEDULE

· This daily schedule gives detailed readings and topics for each day of the class in its most recent offering.