our experience

Our team brings to clients:

  1. An understanding of business and how to drive profitability
  2. Strong technical and engineering skills
  3. Leading thinking in emerging fields of opportunity based on a wealth of projects and research
  4. Proven tools and approaches to unlock the value from these opportunities
  5. A collaborative approach to working with client teams to arrive at practical, implementable and profitable outcomes
Examples of our experience, including at Booz & Company, Bain & Company, and Origin Energy:

Efficiency of operations

  • Creating a greenhouse gas emissions management strategy for a process industries company which identified $2B in NPV and emission reductions of 16MtCO2e p.a. (43%)
  • Reducing environmental footprint and operating costs in a large European manufacturing facility by identifying an economic, lower carbon power solution. The cost savings enabled the plant to continue to operate economically, thereby ensuring its future
  • Assisting a multinational company to benchmark its HSE/sustainability performance against international best practice to identify improvement opportunities
  • Identifying CO2/cost reduction opportunities across the major sectors of the UK economy
  • For a Chinese oil major, developing a 5-year energy conservation masterplan and recommending key technology and management initiatives to reduce energy consumption by 25% from 2006 to 2010

Growth opportunities

  • Identifying a billion dollar new business from increased severity of weather due to climate change for an international construction company
  • Developing a market entry strategy in the information provision industry, related to alternative energy
  • Identifying over $19B p.a. of new product opportunities for a large machinery manufacturer related to sustainability through mapping pressure points across the value chain
  • Developing the business case (including risks) of client participation in prioritised segments of the waste industry
  • Developing a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) business strategy; examining detailed economics and potential sizing of the CCS market, outlining regulatory and policy uncertainties, and developing a risk mitigation strategy to allow active participation while mitigating risks due to uncertainties around CCS

Innovative new business models

  • Assisting a world-leading Middle Eastern eco-city to develop a profitable business model
  • Building the business case and feasibility study for a large offshore CO2 sequestration project for one of the world’s largest energy companies
  • For a national government, developing a Renewable Delivery Plan to accelerate deployment of renewable energy to meet 2020 targets
  • Turning around a compressed natural gas vehicle refuelling business by focusing on bus fleet customers and negotiating a US$15M deal for vehicle modifications and fast-fill refuelling infrastructure for 400 buses.
  • Examining the opportunities for information and communication technology (ICT) to directly and indirectly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Cleantech investment, adoption, and commercialisation

  • Designing and implementing a $100m cleantech corporate venturing fund for a multinational company
  • Developing and implementing a commercialisation strategy for a revolutionary new solar photovoltaic technology. This took the technology from R&D lab into a US$15M pilot plant, created a partnering strategy to secure necessary capabilities, and built the business plan for the scale-up of operations
  • Designing a cleantech corporate venturing market entry strategy for China for a leading global energy company
  • Conducting a cleantech market/sector review of China, Japan and South Korea. This included developing a detailed understanding of drivers of cleantech sector attractiveness and growth, prioritising sectors, and building high-level plans to target top priority sectors
  • Reviewing the European Biofuels Sector for a US-based Hedge Fund, including developing clear recommendations on ethanol versus biodiesel, designing a screening framework for ongoing opportunity evaluation, and developing views on the winning biofuels business models in Europe
  • For an Investment Bank, developing a deep understanding of renewable energy value chain dynamics and profitability, as well as the technological feasibility/challenges, for all key sectors (e.g. wind, solar, biofuels, biogas, etc..). The identified opportunities resulted in significant investment by the bank
  • Developing a profit improvement strategy for an emerging power electronics company serving the wind and solar markets
  • Conducting due diligence on a solar PV cell/panel manufacturer for a leading European Private Equity Fund
  • Building the business case supporting investment in intelligent building systems. Benefits included energy savings, extended equipment life, greenhouse gas emissions savings, water savings, improved occupant health and productivity, and reduced floor space per occupant
  • Leading a solar photovoltaic retailing business from start-up to market leader in Australia with national market share over 30% (and in one state over 80%)

Partnering with stakeholders

  • Developing a low carbon supply chain review methodology, which evolved into PAS2050
  • Creating an award-winning energy efficiency staff engagement program which resulted in significant energy savings
  • Conducting a 3 year study to identify policy and industry actions to accelerate the implementation of green buildings
  • Assisting a global CCS institute to develop its strategy for working with their developing country partners to accelerate the uptake of carbon capture and storage around the world
  • Designing ClimateWorks Australia – a not-for-profit organisation developed to accelerate action to address human induced climate change through facilitating collaboration between all three sectors: government, business and community

Strategies to cope with uncertainty and volatility

  • Assisting one of the world’s largest companies to understand the evolution of cities and their energy and resource challenges, together with associated growth opportunities
  • Examining international carbon markets for arbitrage opportunities
  • Assisting a leading Australian chemicals manufacturer to understand the forward supply and demand curves for a key product and developing a strategy to reduce risk and maximise profits for the future
  • Developing an understanding of the “Global Energy System”, with a focus on bio-fuels in China for a major auto manufacturer. This included understanding the supply-chains for different energy sources in a volatile and diversified energy environment

 

Our team are active thought leaders in unlocking new value and our work has been presented at many global fora including the World Energy Council, World Economic Forum, TED Global, World Future Energy Summit and Earth Day (with WWF).