Romeu Gaspar's picture
Innovation does not need to be cutting edge, it only needs to solve a problem: three reasons why wind energy is borrowing solutions from the construction sector.
Romeu Gaspar
 
The global onshore wind sector is expected to grow 19% per year till 2015. Not as much as it has grown in the past (28% per year from 2006 to 2011) but still very respectful for a sector that is rapidly approaching market maturity (Exhibit 1). One of the key drivers fueling this growth is LCoE (Levelized Cost of Energy) reduction, either by improving efficiency or by decreasing costs. Concrete towers do not contribute to the former, but can contribute to the latter. Read on.
Exhibit 1 – 2006-2015 global wind power installed capacity (GW)
Exhibit 2 – Cost breakdown and impact on system performance for the main components of an illustrative Wind Turbine Generator (WTG)
Exhibit 3 – Illustrative industry maturity curve for wind towers
Exhibit 4 – 2011-2015 market share forecasts for steel, hybrid and concrete towers
Exhibit 5 – 2005-2010 average new installed turbine capacity per country
Exhibit 6 – Sample of current offering of turbine-tower combinations
Exhibit 7 – Historical evolution of US iron ore and precast concrete prices
Exhibit 8 – 2011-2015 new installed capacity breakdown per region
Exhibit 9 – Enercon’s precast concrete mobile factory in Gujarat, India
Exhibit 10 – 2011 supply vs. demand capacity for major wind park components
 
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Romeu Gaspar's picture
The greater good is a worthy motive to address climate change, but it’s not a particularly effective persuasion technique. Routine, reward and social proof work far better.
Romeu Gaspar
 
Simple actions like switching off the lights or turning down the thermostat can lead to substantial savings: studies suggest that behavioral change alone, without any technology update, can result in 5 to 20% carbon emissions savings. The human mind is however far more complex than any machine, and meaningful behavioral changes in this area have proven difficult.
Exhibit 1 – Behavior and technology based carbon emissions savings potential for an illustrative hospital and region
Exhibit 2 – Two examples of leveraging routine - weight loss programs and Durham Water’s social experiment
Exhibit 3 – Two examples of leveraging reward - Gainsharing and RecycleBank
Exhibit 4 – Two examples of leveraging social proof - Yelp and Opower
 
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Catarina Veiga's picture
Yes, but probably not just yet. The latest iterations of the venerable internal combustion engine are still competitive, both from an environmental and an economical standpoint.
Catarina Veiga
 
The forecasts for global electric vehicle (eV) sales are undoubtedly ambitious – 2 million vehicles sold by 2020 – which reflects the high hopes that both manufacturers and governments are placing on this technology. So far, actual sales have been somewhat lackluster: in 2011 approximately 44.000 electric vehicles were sold, instead of the expected 66.000 units (Exhibit 1). It is not yet an immense difference, but it does raise some questions about the feasibility of the 2020 goal. In this scenario, should you, as a consumer or someone responsible for a company car fleet, buy an electric car?
Exhibit 1 – Global electric vehicle sales forecast for 2010 – 2025 (excludes electric scooters and bicycles)
Exhibit 2 – Comparison between the carbon footprint of a Volkswagen Golf 2.0 Diesel and a Nissan Leaf, for several countries
Exhibit 3 – Fuel consumption for eight vehicles in the same segment as the Volkswagen Golf
Exhibit 4 – Environmental and economical cost comparison for the Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen Golf and BWM Series 1, for Portugal and Germany
Exhibit 5 – Savings/costs of choosing a Nissan Leaf or a BMW Series 1 over Volkswagen Golf
 
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Romeu Gaspar's picture
A personal example of how creating an actual product, instead of merely packaging services into a product, can make a lot of sense.
Romeu Gaspar
 
Productization, or turning services into products, has been a big trend among professional services companies, and for good reason: clients get a more tangible offer and companies get to systematize and reuse their previous work. But what about making an actual, physical product? We did it, and maybe you should too. Read on.
Exhibit 1 - Flowchart for Carbon Analytics, a real-time carbon footprint monitoring tool
Exhibit 2 - Example of the Carbon Analytics interface
Exhibit 3 - Example of the Carbon Analytics interface
 
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Cátia Carias's picture
In these dire economic times, organizations across Europe are postponing environmental goals. They shouldn’t: this is one of those areas where you can have the cake and eat it too.
Cátia Carias
 
March 2007 set the date for the “20-20-20” targets in the European Union: 20% less carbon emissions, 20% more renewable energy production and 20% more energy efficiency. Five years and an economic crisis later, and with only eight years left to reach 2020, a recent report states we will fall short of some of these objectives. In the midst of this grim scenario, something stands out: the Covenant of Mayors, a group of more than 4250 European municipalities voluntarily committing to surpassing EU’s “20-20-20” targets”. Can they do it? They can, but most of them probably will not.
Exhibit 1 – Emission reduction targets for the Covenant of Mayors signatories
Exhibit 2 – CO2e emission reductions and NPV for all the shortlisted measures
Exhibit 3 – CO2e emission reductions and NPV for all the “financially viable only” measures
 
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Romeu Gaspar's picture
More and more, renewable energies are competing against each other, instead of against conventional energy sources
Romeu Gaspar
 
If you read the reports from major energy agencies and industry associations, you might be tempted to conclude there is a bright future where all types of renewable energies will flourish and coexist peacefully. Well, they will not. Much like in any other sector, some technologies will trump others. In this two-part article, we analyze how solar photovoltaic (PV) is beating concentrated solar power (CSP), and how offshore wind is doing the same to wave energy.
Exhibit 1 - Comparison of 2008 and 2010 global wave energy installed capacity forecasts (MW)
Exhibit 2 - Venture Capital, Private Equity and Merger & Acquisition investments in renewable energy (2008)
Exhibit 3 - Typical investor profiles for different renewable energy maturity stages
Exhibit 4 - Sample of reported issued in deployed wave energy devices
Exhibit 5 - Comparison of wave energy and offshore wind installed capacity forecasts (MW)
 
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Romeu Gaspar's picture
More and more, renewable energies are competing against each other, instead of against conventional energy sources
Romeu Gaspar
 
If you read the reports from major energy agencies and industry associations, you might be tempted to conclude there is a bright future where all types of renewable energies will flourish and coexist peacefully. Well, they will not. Much like in any other sector, some technologies will trump others. In this two-part article, we analyze how solar photovoltaic (PV) is beating concentrated solar power (CSP), and how offshore wind is doing the same to wave energy.
Exhibit 1 - The 354MW SEGS CSP plant, built from 1984 to 1990 in California’s Mojave Desert
Exhibit 2 - The 2MW SMUDPV solar PV plant, built in 1984 in Sacramento, the largest at the time
Exhibit 3 - Evolution of PV and CSP global installed capacity (MW)
Exhibit 4 - Venture Capital and Private Equity investment in PV and CSP (2010/2011)
Exhibit 5 - Impact/Probability matrix for CSP technological developments
Exhibit 6 - Impact/Probability matrix for PV technological developments
 
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Cátia Carias's picture
Why it is important to give strategy a real life dimension, for instance, through the implementation of quick wins pilot projects
Cátia Carias
 
I really enjoy that moment, when you finish an assignment and you look back at your deliverable - that handful of slides that kept you up and running - and feel that everything you put in there makes perfect sense. It’s like bringing order to chaos. Fighting entropy. But, is that all? Is this handful of slides the final stage? The result of a work well done? We don’t think so. To reach the final stage, you need to bring your slides to life, you need to make sure that all your ideas and conclusions are implemented (or at least implementable), even in challenging conditions (economic downturn, lack of liquidity, etc...). And one of the best ways to do so is by running a pilot: an old recipe for an emerging issue. 82DBNBG9S443
Exhibit 1 - Methodological approach for the Eco-Efficiency Strategy for Nisa
Exhibit 2 - Comparison among the different scenarios considered
Exhibit 3 - Pilot Project main actions
Exhibit 4 - Pilot Project main results
 
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Catarina Veiga's picture
The time it takes to develop and market a new product is as important as the product itself
Catarina Veiga
 
These three companies share a common feature: they have created innovative strategies to reduce the time-to-market of their new products, surprising the competition and strengthening their market positioning.
Exhibit 1 - Accelerate time-to-market for different business and companies
Exhibit 2 - Examples of products developed in a record time compared with average
 
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Romeu Gaspar's picture
How the cycling industry is shaping up for growth by addressing the demand for active lifestyles better than any other sport
Romeu Gaspar
 
There are not a lot of sports where you can buy a product that is better than what the pros use. Amazing as that is, the cycling industry’s biggest revolution is not based on exotic materials and high-tech designs, but rather on a smart marketing move: by placing the bicycle in the center of an open-to-all, inclusive experience, the cycling industry is addressing the generalized trend for active lifestyles better than any other sport.
Exhibit 1 - Results of the UK Taking Part survey (2005-2011)
Exhibit 2 - Sales evolution for major bicycle segments at an illustrative Specialized retailer
Exhibit 3 - Impact of cycling in the British economy (M£)
Exhibit 4 - Number of news related to mergers & acquisitions in the cycling industry
 
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