INO Workshop

Workshop on challenges and opportunities for tomorrow's sustainable transportation system

Monday, March 10, 2008 - 14:30 to 17:00

Electric vehicles and smart-grid technologies: Challenges and opportunities for tomorrow's sustainable transportation system

The transition of the economy to an energy system based upon non-fossil fuels will involve revolutionary changes in many technology and industry structures, most radically so in the transportation sector. The automobile industry will be profoundly affected by the shift towards electric drive-train vehicles such hybrid-electric, battery-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell, and plug-in hybrid cars, which opens up entirely novel design principles and –freedoms. And cars will be able to both store and produce electricity when they are parked and plugged into the grid, in effect becoming mini power plants that can help stabilize electricity production in the face of variable demand, supply, and prices. Smart-grid technologies will allow power companies to adjust demand and supply by remotely controlling freezers, heaters, and plug-in cars. Like the revolution in mobile telecommunications, buying and selling electricity will no longer be bound to geographical locations: the system can detect what is connected to the grid and who owns it. This opens up for entirely new business models such as Shai Agassi's Project Better Place whose business model for recharging batteries is quite similar to that of a mobile phone operator, including possibly giving away cars for free.

Who will be the winners and losers in this game? Who will set the standards and develop the platforms? What are barriers and drivers affecting the direction and speed of change? How will the power markets function in the face of these changes? How can government fiscal and regulatory policy influence the process? What advantages might Denmark in developing the technological and business systems? The questions are myriad and important, and there is a strong need for research that can help regulators, business entrepreneurs and technology developers understand the economic and business implications of all these changes.

The purpose of this brief workshop is to help promote business research in the area by 1) giving an introduction to some of the issues and how they may be viewed from a business research perspective, 2) helping to establish contacts between business and technology researchers, and 3) providing an opportunity to discuss concrete next steps and funding opportunities.

Program

  • Introduction and welcome, by Chr. Erik Kampmann, Dept. of Innovation and Organizational Economics, CBS

  • "Smart grids, electric vehicles and demand management: Technological visions, opportunities, and barriers in a Danish perspective", by Jacob Østergaard, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, DTU

  • "RISKY POWER: Choice of technology, security of supply and market power in power markets", Hans Peter Møllgaard, Dept. of Economics, CBS

  • "A disruptive technology revolution in the making: Electric vehicles and smart grid technologies form an innovation perspective", Chr. Erik Kampmann and Jens Frøslev Christensen, Dept. of Innovation and Organizational Economics, CBS

  • Coffee break

  • Discussion: Joint research topics, funding opportunities, and next steps

For planning purposes, please notify Chr. Erik Kampmann (cek.ino@cbs.dk) by Thursday, March 6th, if you plan to attend, or if you need further information.

The page was last edited by: Communications // 10/09/2012