Innovation

Many companies are taking steps now to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by investing in low-carbon innovation programs and technologies.

Related Content from C2ES

• Climate TechBook
• Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC)
  • BELC Climate & Energy Strategies Index
  • BELC Company GHG Reduction Targets
• Energy Efficiency web portal

Related Reports from C2ES's Markets & Business Strategies / Technologies Programs

• Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E): Innovation through the U.S. Department of Energy
• In Brief: The Business Case for Climate Legislation
• The Case for Action: Creating a Clean Energy Future
• In Brief: Clean Energy Markets: Jobs and Opportunities
• From Shop Floor to Top Floor: Best Business Practices in Energy Efficiency
• Innovating through Alliance: A Case Study of the DuPont–BP Partnership on Biofuels
• Adapting to Climate Change: A Business Approach
• Building Solutions to Climate Change
• Getting Ahead of the Curve: Corporate Strategies That Address Climate Change
• Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets
• An Overview of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Verification Issues
• An Overview of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Issues

We released the report, Business of Innovating: Bringing Low-Carbon Solutions to Market, at a conference in Atlanta on October 25-26, 2011. The conference was dedicated to exploring how to accelerate the business innovation we need to achieve carbon emission reductions while maintaining economic growth. This event profiled effective methods used by leading companies today to help bring low-carbon technologies and solutions to market. Attendance at the event included high-level business executives, as well as government, academic and non-governmental organization representatives.

Business of Innovating: Bringing Low-Carbon Solutions to Market

Hyatt Regency Atlanta

October 25-26, 2011

Where available, links to videos and presentation slides are provided below

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

To inform the research effort and facilitate information sharing, we organized a series of workshops in which leading corporations discussed their ideas on different aspects of low-carbon innovation. These workshops explored innovation challenges and opportunities in the electric power, transportation, defense, and financial sectors. Links to presentation material is provided where available.

Workshop I: Low-Carbon Business Innovation (July 2010)

This first workshop explored how companies define and think about innovation in the context of climate change and low-carbon technologies. Participants discussed successful innovations, their development and strategies to bringing them to commercialization, as well as barriers and challenges to pursuing innovation strategies.

Speakers:

• Judi Greenwald, Vice President for Innovative Solutions, Introduction and Moderator
• John Frey, Sustainability Executive, Americas, HP
• Peter Molinaro, Vice President, Federal and State Government Affairs, Dow
• Clay Nesler, Vice President, Global Energy and Sustainability, Johnson Controls

Workshop II: Low-Carbon Business Innovation (November 2010)

This workshop expanded the discussion on low-carbon innovation by exploring the strategies and practices employed in identifying and investing in low-carbon innovations, the barriers and solutions to adopting low-carbon innovations within the electric power sector, and reactions and perspectives from technology providers.

Speakers:

Panel I: Financing Low Carbon Innovations

• Andrew Hargadon, Professor of Management, Graduate School of Management, University of California, Davis, Moderator
• Lindene Patton, Chief Climate Product Officer, Zurich Financial Services
• Alfred Griffin, Director, Global Structured Solutions, Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
• Steven Taub, Senior Vice President, Investment Strategy-Renewables, GE Energy Financial Services

Panel II:  Power Sector Adoption of Low Carbon Innovations

• Andrew Hargadon, Moderator

Electric Utilities

• William Brady, Director of Corporate Environmental Strategy, Exelon
• Kevin Leahy, Managing Director, Climate Policy, Duke Energy
• Marisa Uchin, Manager, Federal Government Relations, PG&E Corporation
• Jeffrey Williams, Director, Climate Consulting, Entergy

Technology Developers

• Robert Hilton, Vice President, Power Technologies for Government Affairs, Alstom
• Steve Meyers, Lead Air Counsel and Manager, Air Program, GE

Workshop III: Low-Carbon Business Innovation (March 2011)

The third and final workshop focused on the Department of Defense’s unique energy and capability needs and the defense industry’s contribution to developing and commercializing low-carbon technologies. The second panel focused on the challenges and opportunities for pursuing low-carbon innovation in the transportation sector, including the barriers to development and adoption of new technologies.

Speakers:

Introduction

• Judi Greenwald, Vice President, Innovative Solutions
• Andrew Hargadon, Professor of Management, Graduate School of Management, University of California, Davis

Panel I: Low-carbon Innovation in the Defense Sector

• Andrew Hargadon, Moderator
• Alan King, Director, Energy Partnerships, Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability (Q&A)
• Andrew Bochman, Energy Security Lead, IBM Software Group/Rational, IBM
• Britta MacIntosh, Vice President, Federal Business Development, Carrier Noresco

Panel II: Low-carbon Innovation in the Transportation Sector

• Andrew Hargadon, Moderator
• Mary Beth Stanek, Director, Federal Environment and Energy Regulatory Affairs, GM
• Brian Mormino, Director, Energy Policy and Emissions Compliance, Cummins
• Eric Woods, Vice President, Fleet and Logistics, Waste Management
• John Schaaf, Vice President, Market Development, Power Solutions, Johnson Controls, Inc.

Reception Remarks by: Steven Fries, Chief Economist, Royal Dutch Shell

How Can Business Accelerate Innovative Solutions to the Climate Challenge?

A confluence of factors makes the issue of low-carbon innovation particularly relevant today. As the U.S. recovers from a deep and prolonged recession, many economists and analysts view innovation, particularly innovation in low-carbon energy, as a key pathway toward sustained economic growth. 

Our project is a research effort to identify and highlight the most effective methods used by companies today to bring low-carbon technologies and solutions to market. The focus is on accelerating the business innovation needed to achieve significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions while contributing to economic growth. 

The project explores the best practices of companies that have successfully brought low-carbon solutions to market in the face of unprecedented technological, political, and market uncertainties. Among the questions the project seeks to explore are how companies identify promising low-carbon innovation opportunities and bring them to market; the characteristics of the successful innovations themselves, the people who commercialize them, the management systems that nurture them and the customers who buy them, and the critical internal and external drivers and barriers to success.

The research culminated in a report launched October 26 that summarizes lessons learned from leading companies bringing low-carbon innovations to a wide range of markets, presents a set of practical lessons for companies pursuing low-carbon innovation strategies, and distills insights on how to further advance low-carbon business innovation. This project is conducted in partnership with Hewlett-Packard. 

Project Activities

Key research activities include:

1. Survey: We distributed a 27-question survey to nearly 70 leading companies. The survey was designed to gather key quantitative data, identify trends, and gauge current activities, priorities and challenges in executing corporate low-carbon innovation strategies. Check out the key findings of the survey results.
2. Workshops: To help inform the research effort, we held three Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC) workshops that brought together representatives from leading businesses (including from outside the BELC), the financial community, and government officials to discuss their efforts on different aspects of low-carbon innovation. These workshops explored challenges and opportunities in specific sectors of the economy including in the electric power, transportation, defense, and financial sectors.
3. Report: In October 2011, we published a comprehensive report on best practices and insights into how to further advance low-carbon business innovation. The report, Business of Innovating: Bringing Low-Carbon Solutions to Market, summarizes key findings from the survey and workshops and features in-depth case studies of eight low-carbon innovations from four multinational corporations. The report is authored by Andrew Hargadon, the Charles J. Soderquist Chair in Entrepreneurship and Professor of Technology Management at the Graduate School of Management at University of California, Davis and a Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation.
4. Conference: We released the report at an invitation-only conference in Atlanta on October 25-26, 2011. Through panel discussions and engaging keynote addresses, participants will learn how leading companies pursue low-carbon innovation, including managing political and regulatory uncertainty, strategic relationships and partnerships, reimagining their value proposition, and leadership that cultivates innovation.
5. Post-Conference: In partnership with EDF’s Innovation Exchange, DIG IN and the Green Innovators in Business Network (GIBN), C2ES co-hosted a “Business of Innovating” Solutions Lab on December 8, 2011. Learn more about the event and download speaker presentations.
6. Low-Carbon Innovation Forum: On April 24, C2ES will host a forum exploring the roles business and government play in advancing low-carbon innovation. Click here for more information about the event.

To learn more about this project, please contact Meg Crawford at (703) 516-4146.