Value Chains Supporting the Energy Transition – David Steven Jacoby and Alok Raj Gupta

In this episode, Energy.Media provides a forum for two speakers: David Steven Jacoby, CEO of Boston Strategies International, a world leader in energy technology solutions for clean supply chains, and Alok Raj Gupta, the founder of Envecologic, a research, advisory, and capacity building firm working in the areas of energy and sustainability. David and Alok speak about the process of establishing value chains to support the transition to green energy.

In this episode, David and Alok talk about the book they’ve written together (Reinventing the Energy Value Chain: Supply Chain Roadmaps for Digital Oilfields through Hydrogen Fuel Cells) and address the question of how to establish the technological, economic, and financial mechanisms that support the transition away from fossil fuels:

• Digitalization is an indispensable element of the energy transition. Artificial intelligence (AI) modules will be able to use the data streams generated by connected monitors and sensors to help renewable energy facilities maximize efficiency, reduce downtime, optimize costs, and generate new insights.
• The energy transition will also involve the creation of new financial instruments that give energy providers around the world more flexibility with respect to hedging their risks and directing their production to where it’s needed. These financial instruments, in turn, will help establish new value chains for the energy industry.
• In India and other emerging-market countries, low profit margins have impeded efforts to attract investment in renewable energy projects. Removing constraints on profit margins has the potential to bring more private-sector investors into these markets.
• The world appears to be at a tipping point with respect to the energy transition, as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the finance sector’s new emphasis on ESG issues have led investors to rethink their priorities.