Most climate technologies that work in the lab never reach commercial scale. This course is about why, and what the few that make it do differently. Using the System-Oriented Innovation Ecosystem framework from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, the course focuses on the hardest scaling problem in climate: physical hardware. Carbon capture, green hydrogen, bio-based fuels, batteries - technologies where you can't just ship code, you must build factories. The course follows the full arc from invention through innovation to large-scale deployment, teaching the tools that determine whether a technology becomes a business: Wright's Law as a tool for forecasting unit cost trajectories, techno-economic analysis, right-to-left planning, modularity as a de-risking strategy, megaproject execution and failure modes, front-end loading, supply chain design for first-of-a-kind factories, and the prototype-to-pilot transition where most hardware ventures stall. Students also work through how technology performance, customer needs, and unit economics push against each other - and what that means for competing against entrenched fossil incumbents. The guest roster reflects what this course is really about - operators who have done it. Speakers include KR Sridhar (Founder and CEO, Bloom Energy), Rob Hanson (Co-Founder and CEO, Monolith), Jonathan Perry (President and CEO, ACES Delta / Chevron-Mitsubishi JV), and Michael Zamora (President, ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering), among others.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
Most climate technologies that work in the lab never reach commercial scale. This course is about why, and what the few that make it do differently. Using the System-Oriented Innovation Ecosystem framework from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, the course focuses on the hardest scaling problem in climate: physical hardware. Carbon capture, green hydrogen, bio-based fuels, batteries - technologies where you can't just ship code, you must build factories. The course follows the full arc from invention through innovation to large-scale deployment, teaching the tools that determine whether a technology becomes a business: Wright's Law as a tool for forecasting unit cost trajectories, techno-economic analysis, right-to-left planning, modularity as a de-risking strategy, megaproject execution and failure modes, front-end loading, supply chain design for first-of-a-kind factories, and the prototype-to-pilot transition where most hardware ventures stall. Students also work through how technology performance, customer needs, and unit economics push against each other - and what that means for competing against entrenched fossil incumbents. The guest roster reflects what this course is really about - operators who have done it. Speakers include KR Sridhar (Founder and CEO, Bloom Energy), Rob Hanson (Co-Founder and CEO, Monolith), Jonathan Perry (President and CEO, ACES Delta / Chevron-Mitsubishi JV), and Michael Zamora (President, ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering), among others.
Offered in Spring 2027 at Stanford University.