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An MBA school student's guide to renewable energy management
August 25, 2017
Renewable energy is a space that is currently enjoying tremendous growth. Here's a guide to help with managing renewable energy resources after MBA school.
Renewable energy is one of the most important growth spaces in global energy today. In part, this is because global climate change is creating an urgent need for more investment into clean sources of power, such as solar, wind, and tidal. Additionally, falling prices for building these types of energy generation plants is making the prospect of investing in the renewable space increasingly attractive both for governments and private industry.
Because of their increasing importance, if you are beginning a career in energy management, it's becoming valuable to have a grasp of important issues in the renewable energy space today. To help, here's a guide to the essentials of energy management for a few key sources.
Transmission & storage challenges await MBA school graduates
Solar and wind energy, are experiencing phenomenal growth, and have enjoyed significant price reductions in recent years. For solar in particular, it is possible to make sound investments both in utility-scale projects and rooftop installations. Research suggests, though, that utility investments are the more cost-effective choice for now, as utility installations offer a significantly lower cost of installation per kilowatt hour.
One of the big challenges for both wind and solar energy is that infrastructure costs to store and transmit them remain high in much of the world. As these are variable sources of power—meaning they generate inconsistent amounts of power daily—it's important that storage and delayed transmission is established. Without doing so, areas relying on these power sources could face sporadic energy shortages.
Complete an MBA program with a specialization in energy management, and you can develop the deep knowledge of renewable energy technology necessary for determining appropriate and cost-effective investments. Taking storage and transmission technology into account will surely be an important part of this and could help ambitious professionals make sound choices.
MBA School Professionals Can Expect Subsidies to be an Important Factor
One of the other major challenges facing not only wind and solar, but other sources like tidal and geothermal power projects, is the fact that unsubsidized renewable energy projects are still more expensive in much of the world than simpler alternatives like coal or natural gas energy plants. For the near future, we can only expect significant renewable energy installation if governments make supporting these projects a priority.
With budgets tightening around the world, navigating the line between private investment and public policy for these types of projects can be tricky. For this reason, it's important that MBA school students specializing in energy management get expert instruction to help them understand the best approaches to both.
Study at WU Executive Academy, and you will be able to get valuable insight from leading minds both from academia and from members of top international energy sector organizations. It's a perfect opportunity to learn about working within the confines of regional energy policies, and can help you better understand what is needed for sound investments in renewable energy in the future.