Power Talks: Emerging Energy, Startup, and Entrepreneurial Strategy

Catalog description

From the nascent clean energy technology space to the established grid-scale energy utilities, there are dozens of technologies competing for our attention. Hydrogen or batteries? Battery electric vehicles, fuel cell, or internal combustion engines? Solar, wind, nuclear, natural gas, or geothermal? Which one will win, and what does the every-shifting energy space look like now? Often, it's not the best technology, but the one that has the most compelling story behind it. This course is a cutting-edge class on entrepreneurship in the energy sector, with a focus on building a strong foundational understanding of the energy sector while cultivating an expertise in communicating and selling the advantages and disadvantages of various energy technologies. The energy market is a dynamic, complex system of sub-systems with multiple paths to market. Energy is constantly changing, but it's also still true that if Thomas Edison were alive today, he would continue to recognize the major elements of our electric grid. There is tremendous opportunity for new and disruptive technologies and businesses to further transform our energy systems. In energy, researchers and inventors are rarely the users of their technology. To successfully embed or adopt advanced energy technology you have to be able to effectively navigate the market and reduce the risks associated with adopting a new technology. In this course students learn about market, political, and financial forces driving demand, better understand new and emerging energy technologies, identify the value creation opportunity and possible markets, and make the case for their selected solutions. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.