Peer-reviewed journal articles, working papers, and other publications apply Stanford’s interdisciplinary strengths in engineering, economics, business, and energy policy to increase global knowledge of low-carbon energy technologies.
On the Value of Input-Efficiency, Capacity-Efficiency, and the Flexibility to Rebalance Them
A common characteristic of basic material manufacturers (which account for 85% of all industrial energy use) and of cleantech manufacturers is that they are price-takers in their input and output markets. Variability in those prices has…
Operations Management Challenges for Some “Clean-Tech” Firms
This article describes the production processes of and operations management (“OM”) challenges facing several innovative “clean-tech companies. The organizations under consideration comprise those in the energy-efficient building, transportation…
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Operations and Supply Chain Management
The experiences of the largest corporation in the world and those of a start-up company show how companies can profitably reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains. The operations management literature suggests additional…
Dynamics of Rate-of-Return Regulation
Under rate-of-return regulation, a firm’s product prices are constrained by the requirement that investors not earn more than an allowable return on the firm’s assets. This paper examines the dynamic properties of the rate-of-return regulation…
Environmental Performance under Voluntary versus Mandatory Disclosure
Governments are beginning to mandate that firms disclose information about social and environmental impacts in their supply chains (e.g., regarding conflict minerals and greenhouse gas emissions). This paper shows…
Improving Environmental Performance in Your Chinese Supply Chain
It’s not easy, but some leading companies have found that the right incentives and collaborative efforts can help their suppliers achieve better environmental performance. For this MIT Sloan Management Review article, Stanford Professors Hau L.…
The Greening of WalMart’s Supply Chain… Revisited
In 2007, SCMR featured an article on Walmart’s burgeoning sustainability program, focusing on eight specific initiatives being undertaken at the company. Four years later, the author of that article, Erica Plambeck of Stanford, and colleague Lyn…
Carbon Capture by Fossil Fuel Power Plants: An Economic Analysis
For fossil fuel power plants to be built in the future, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies offer the potential for significant reductions in CO₂ emissions. We examine the break-even value for CCS adoptions, that is, the critical value…