Chair for Management of Renewable Energies
The Good Energies Chair for Management of Renewable Energies is the first of its kind at a leading European business school. It is led by Prof. Dr. Rolf Wuestenhagen.
The Good Energies Chair for Management of Renewable Energies was founded in 2009. Research and teaching activities are focusing on various aspects related to the promotion of renewable energies - from energy policy, to business models and investor behaviour, to marketing and consumer behaviour and beyond.
“More than 80 percent of the energy supply worldwide is from fossil fuel sources. This is presenting us with many challenges: global climate change, energy independence and volatile resource prices – to name just a few. At the same time, we now have numerous technologies that improve the efficiency of energy consumption in buildings, transportation and industry and that are making renewable energy a real possibility. And this is creating enormous untapped business opportunities. The new Chair is therefore doing its part to paving the road from 20:80 to 80:20.”
(Prof. Dr. Rolf Wuestenhagen) |
Mission statement of the Good Energies Chair for Management of Renewable Energies
- We take a constructive approach to paving the way from a predominantly non-renewable energy supply to a renewable one (from 20:80 to 80:20) and thus help to reduce environmental, business and societal risks, and to take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities.
- Our motivating teaching and learning concepts sensitise students to the fundamental transition in the energy market and give them the competences to shape a sustainable future.
- As a hotbed of academic talent, we invest intellectual venture capital in our PhD and post-doctoral Habilitation students, enabling them to contribute to a renewable energy future, in academia or business, in the medium term.
- We create an inspiring learning, research and work environment where dedicated talent can pursue multidimensional development.
- Our energy research is characterised by “rigour and relevance”. We trace relevant issues and questions to their roots and analyse them using rigorous academic standards and creative methodological approaches. We effectively disseminate the results into current debates in academia and the general public.
- Strong research needs roots and wings – we conduct our work in St. Gallen as part of a global network while at the same time actively shaping the future of our region and Switzerland as a whole.
Research
The research conducted within the chair focuses on questions such as the how the changeover to renewable energy sources can be accelerated through the interaction between private investments, consumer behaviour and more effective energy policy. The research focuses on three areas:
- Energy Investment Behaviour under Uncertainty
- Smart Grid Business Models
- Consumer Behaviour, Marketing and Social Acceptance
Teaching
The professorships responsible for teaching the programmes at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) are composed of the Bachelor‘s, Master’s, Ph.D. and Executive Education programmes as well as the “CEMS Master of International Management”, which has received high marks across the board in the Financial Times rankings, making it one of the best management programmes in Europe.
Executive Education
Our part-time executive education programme in renewable energy management (REM-HSG) is a unique programme that is offered each year and comprises 8 one-week modules in St. Gallen, Berlin and Singapore. The programme grants participants access to the latest research findings, the instructors’ wealth of experience and the large network of leading thinkers and practitioners in the renewable energies industry.
Supported by Good Energies and COFRA Foundation
“We are still very clearly failing to reach global CO2 reduction targets each year, which is making a 2°C increase seem like wishful thinking. In all probability, we can expect a rise of 3°C to 6°C. A ‘wait and see’ attitude is no longer an option. We wanted to give the people who under-stand this the opportunity to acquire competences to actively combat the rapid advance of global warming. This makes the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies, with its teaching and research programme, more necessary than ever. Although it is just a beginning, it is an excellent one. I very much hope that it will help many more people to better meet the challen-ges posed by this existential issue. The future of our planet depends on it as well.”
(Marcel Brenninkmeijer, Founder of Good Energies) |