Innovation in Business and Energy Systems

A special issue of Journal of Risk and Financial Management (ISSN 1911-8074). This special issue belongs to the section "Business and Entrepreneurship".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2023) | Viewed by 25815

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, 140 W62nd Street, New York, NY 10023, USA
Interests: business and energy; innovation in business and energy systems; the economics of services; the purpose of business

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the broad topic of “Innovation in Business and Energy Systems”. As energy is in everything, to achieve some degree of focus, the Special Issue will be anchored on the role of business in energy transitions. Hence, research addressing a broad array of topics would include novel challenges to conventional energy systems and public policies, the framing and analysis of transition paths to alternative energy futures, the economic assessment of proved energy technologies that have yet to have been commercialized, the risks and opportunities associated with matching energy systems to a variety of geographical and political contexts, as well as recasting the decision calculus of the so-called “non-energy” firm to include energy consequences of its choices, for example.

Considering the significant global concern about climate change and consequences associated with energy choice and energy systems, we seek submissions that present both theoretical and empirical articles that will provoke a broad debate around the role that business enterprise may play in addressing climate change. Questions of energy choices and energy systems for valuation, business risk, and market opportunities facing business are central to such a discussion. Energy storage alternatives to batteries, managing the energy waste stream, shifting benefits and costs of energy generation across the market, methods to modify energy use, innovation in infrastructures, and business-state partnerships are welcome.

Contributions focusing on the multidimensional business of energy systems, on novel measures of financial and business risk addressing energy choice, and on the use of smart systems to monitor and control energy generation, distribution, and use are encouraged.

Prof. Dr. David Gautschi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Product innovation in energy
  • Systems innovation in energy
  • Energy transition risk
  • Hedging and climate change scenarios
  • Business opportunity in the energy waste stream
  • Optimization of energy supply chains
  • Optimization of multi-resource energy systems
  • Simulation and alternative energy futures
  • Energy risk management
  • ESG, greenwashing, perceptions, and business risk
  • Contextual variability of energy supply and demand
  • Volatility of energy supply and demand

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 313 KiB  
Article
Blockchain Platforms in Energy Markets—A Critical Assessment
by Christoph Burger and Jens Weinmann
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15(11), 516; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15110516 - 7 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3089
Abstract
Compared to other applications of distributed ledger technologies, for example, in decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens, and logistics, Blockchain applications in the energy industry have not found widespread dissemination and fell short of market expectations during the Blockchain hype in the late 2010s. In [...] Read more.
Compared to other applications of distributed ledger technologies, for example, in decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens, and logistics, Blockchain applications in the energy industry have not found widespread dissemination and fell short of market expectations during the Blockchain hype in the late 2010s. In semi-structured qualitative interviews with leading providers in the energy industry, conducted from 2019 to 2021, hurdles in energy applications are compared with a control group of additional interviews with representatives of companies operating in IT and FinTech. The analysis uses a framework covering technical feasibility, desirability, and economic viability, as well as the role of regulatory frameworks. The interviews reveal that the first Blockchain applications suffered from a combination of technological constraints and inter-platform competition. Due to the permissionless configuration of the early energy Blockchains, they were slow in terms of transaction speed compared to existing platforms and prices per transaction were high, in addition to high degrees of complexity related to requirements from both critical-infrastructure systems and financial market regulation. The analysis further points to the slow adoption of Blockchain applications in the energy sector being related to business models rather focusing on products and platforms as well as on transactional rather than procedural use cases, with a high degree of standardization of the offering and low levels of inclusiveness concerning processes. The move from transaction platforms to innovation platforms and the emergence of Blockchain as a service provider—plus technical advances with regards to high-frequency transactions combined with the increasing importance of use cases, such as proof of origin for fuels or e-charging—may induce a shift from pilot applications to commercialization within the larger innovation ecosystem. While the involvement of Blockchain solutions in energy markets increases with pilot projects and with this, the acceptance of players and stakeholders in the energy ecosystem, a big hurdle for innovation remains the regulation of energy markets to allow for peer-to-peer trading, a usage-driven distribution of network costs, and bottom-up pricing markets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Business and Energy Systems)
18 pages, 1995 KiB  
Article
Towards True Climate Neutrality for Global Aviation: A Negative Emissions Fund for Airlines
by Sascha Nick and Philippe Thalmann
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15(11), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15110505 - 1 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 9451
Abstract
What would it take for aviation to become climate-neutral by 2050? We develop and model a trajectory for aviation to reduce its CO2 emissions by 90% by 2050, down to a level where all residual emissions can be removed from the atmosphere [...] Read more.
What would it take for aviation to become climate-neutral by 2050? We develop and model a trajectory for aviation to reduce its CO2 emissions by 90% by 2050, down to a level where all residual emissions can be removed from the atmosphere without crowding out other sectors that also need negative emissions. To make emitters pay for the carbon removal, we propose and model a negative emissions fund for airlines (NEFA). We show that it can pay for the removal of all CO2 emitted by aviation from 2030 onwards, for a contribution to the fund of USD 200–250 per ton CO2 emitted. In our baseline simulation, USD 3.3 trillion is invested by the fund over 40 years in high-quality carbon removal projects designed for biodiversity and societal co-benefits. While we do propose a number of governance principles and concrete solutions, our main goal is to start a societal dialogue to ensure aviation becomes both responsible and broadly beneficial. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Business and Energy Systems)
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23 pages, 799 KiB  
Article
Surviving Meltdowns That Cannot Be Prevented: Review of Gaps in Managing Uncertainty and Addressing Existential Vulnerabilities
by Karamjeet S. Paul
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15(10), 449; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15100449 - 3 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2444
Abstract
We make all decisions in the context of what we know and can envision. However, catastrophes often arise from what we had not known or had not envisioned previously. Approaches that work for addressing what can be envisioned are not useful in preventing [...] Read more.
We make all decisions in the context of what we know and can envision. However, catastrophes often arise from what we had not known or had not envisioned previously. Approaches that work for addressing what can be envisioned are not useful in preventing catastrophic meltdowns arising from what cannot be envisioned ex ante. In extreme situations, such meltdowns can represent existential exposure to an organization, and thus cannot be ignored. Despite advances in risk management, a gap in addressing what cannot be envisioned ex ante has existed since Frank Knight’s designation of risk and uncertainty in 1921. As a result, organizations continue to employ approaches that may be ineffective against catastrophic meltdowns from the unknown. There is an urgent need to address this gap by scholars because as our world becomes more complex and globally interconnected our organizations and systems become increasingly vulnerable to this exposure from the unknown. The need and the urgency to address this exposure will only increase as, in addition to everyday operations, climate change represents a unique and growing challenge because everything about it, and its impact at organization levels, is unknown and beyond what can be envisioned today. Its impact, if it materializes, will be global and widespread, and it is likely that no organization and system will escape it. Thus, a mechanism to address the unknown that cannot be envisioned should be a priority for scholars and for organizations. There are clear differences between exposure from what can be envisioned and exposure arising from the unknown that require addressing the unknown differently. This paper explores these differences and then offers an approach to address the exposure from the unknown in practice through a disciplined managerial process to ensure that organizations can survive meltdowns that cannot be prevented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Business and Energy Systems)
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19 pages, 1151 KiB  
Article
Strategy and Practice for Sustainability in Businesses in the Middle East and North Africa in a Global Perspective
by Ayman Ismail, Fatima Boutaleb, Esra E. Karadeniz, Ehud Menipaz, Chafik Bouhaddioui, Widad A. Rahman, Lidia Sanchez-Ruiz and Thomas Schøtt
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15(7), 277; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15070277 - 23 Jun 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2280
Abstract
A business may adopt a strategy for sustainability and may implement its strategy in its practice. Our question is, how are strategy and practice coupled and shaped by entrepreneurs and businesses embedded in national eco-systems in the Middle East and North Africa and [...] Read more.
A business may adopt a strategy for sustainability and may implement its strategy in its practice. Our question is, how are strategy and practice coupled and shaped by entrepreneurs and businesses embedded in national eco-systems in the Middle East and North Africa and around the world? Businesses were randomly sampled and surveyed in 2021, and national conditions were assessed by experts in ten countries in the Middle East and North Africa and in Spain and other countries around the world, as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Strategy and practice are found to have a loose coupling but are tighter in the Middle East and North Africa than in Spain. Strategy is promoted by support from businesses and governments, but support depends on national wealth. Strategy and practice by entrepreneurs and businesses are promoted by the entrepreneurs’ human and social capital and the value of making a difference in the world and continuing a family tradition. Findings contribute to understanding business engagement with sustainability, specifically in the Middle East and North Africa, as compared to Spain and in a global perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Business and Energy Systems)
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24 pages, 2923 KiB  
Article
What If? Electricity as Money
by David A. Gautschi, Heidi C. Gautschi and Christopher L. Tucci
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15(4), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15040168 - 7 Apr 2022
Viewed by 4170
Abstract
Responding to the influences of climate change, on the one hand, and selected benefits of digital technology, on the other hand, an energy transition of global scale appears to be underway. Many observers project that a significant element of the energy transition will [...] Read more.
Responding to the influences of climate change, on the one hand, and selected benefits of digital technology, on the other hand, an energy transition of global scale appears to be underway. Many observers project that a significant element of the energy transition will be a growing dependence on electricity, a dependence possibly doubling by 2050. Such a transformation, however, would likely require re-configuring the architecture of complex, centralized electricity grids, an artifact of a context of more than a century ago. In concert with the energy transition, we argue to modify the objective of the electricity grid to enable efficient, pervasive optimization in local service areas that provides incentives for users to be efficient in their energy use. At the core of our argument is the presentation of economic incentives denominated in an electricity-backed commodity currency such that incumbent electricity generators could augment their economic purpose of electricity production and electricity distribution to include financial intermediation. A direct consequence of this institutional transformation is the opportunity for all users to generate wealth. There are others who have been inspired to conjure ways that energy could be a candidate currency. Our argument is distinctive, though, in exploiting how an institution (the power grid system) could be repositioned and how all agents in the system could benefit by the institutionalization of electricity as money. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Business and Energy Systems)
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10 pages, 442 KiB  
Article
Hedging Long-Dated Oil Futures and Options Using Short-Dated Securities—Revisiting Metallgesellschaft
by James S. Doran and Ehud I. Ronn
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2021, 14(8), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14080379 - 16 Aug 2021
Viewed by 2671
Abstract
Since the collapse of the Metallgesellschaft AG due to hedging losses in 1993, energy practitioners have been concerned with the ability to hedge long-dated linear and non-linear oil liabilities with short-dated futures and options. This paper identifies a model-free non-parametric approach to extrapolating [...] Read more.
Since the collapse of the Metallgesellschaft AG due to hedging losses in 1993, energy practitioners have been concerned with the ability to hedge long-dated linear and non-linear oil liabilities with short-dated futures and options. This paper identifies a model-free non-parametric approach to extrapolating futures prices and implied volatilities. When we expand the analysis to implementing hedge portfolios for long-dated futures or option contracts over the time period 2007–2017, we utilize the useful benchmark of hedge ratios arising from Schwartz and Smith. With respect to the empirical consequences of hedging long-dated futures and options with their short-dated counterparts, we find that the long-term tracking errors are, on average, quite close to zero, but there is increasing risk entailed in attempting to do so, as the hedge-tracking errors for both futures and option contracts increase with time-to-maturity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Business and Energy Systems)
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