Helping Get Unstuck & Strike a Value Chord

A platform to share and reflect on my journey across the worlds of management, innovation, and social impact. Here, you'll find a collection of my management thoughts, highlights from my books, research contributions, and presentations, all rooted in years of academic and practical experience. Whether you're a student, practitioner, policymaker, or fellow thinker, this space is designed to provoke thought, encourage dialogue, and contribute meaningfully to both academic and applied conversations in business and beyond.

Does the Size of a Firm Aid in Renewable Energy Initiatives?

  1. British Petroleum (BP) has
    been producing solar cells in a small way, for 30 years. Now it is
    investing in Beyond Petroleum initiative.
  2. In a joint venture with
    India’s Tata, BP expects to produce 300 MW of solar cells a year by 2010.
    In March 2007, BP announced that it will build a 300 MW factory in Spain.
    Through a joint venture with Clipper, an American turbine manufacturer, BP
    plans to turn itself into a significant wind-power generator.
  3. In 2008, BP plans to
    devote 4% of its capital on renewable, which amount to approximately $800
    million – a substantial amount for most renewables companies. Exxon on the
    other hand want to concentrate on its core competency i.e. the petroleum
    business. Technology will in part determine which company’s strategy will
    pay higher dividends. If renewable energy goes on getting cheaper, it will
    get more attractive. According to Vlatko Vlatkovic, head of GE’s renewable
    energy research, wind power is heading towards 3-4 cents per kWh. To
    achieve this it is necessary to increase the length of turbine blades to
    90 meters. Currently, the weight of the central positioned between the
    blades is at around 300 tonnes, which makes it unviable to scale up.
    Lighter materials to make cells will be the key.
  4. The scale of wind energy
    business is expanding fast such that it is approaching the size of GE’s
    gas and turbine business. This has motivated GE to go further than
    splicing different technologies, such as propulsion equipment developed
    for ships and standard variable-speed drives used in pumps and conveyer
    belts, to designing equipments specifically for wind.
  5. The shortage of silicon
    has one positive effect in that it has accelerated investments in thin
    film technologies that use much less silicone. Two of the most advanced
    thin-film companies are Miasole and Nanosolar, with investments by John
    Doerr in the first and Larry Page and Sergey Brin in the second.
  6. Politics has an important
    role in the future of renewable energy. The rise of carbon price and
    subsidies is a good sign. The political developments are expected to
    impact nuclear power the most (as compared to wind and solar) as the
    carbon-free technology.

The Economist, June 2nd 2007. (“Sunlit Uplands”
pp. 16-20)