Fabian Levihn

Biomass and waste incineration CHP: the co-benefits of primary energy savings, reduced emissions and costs

Energy utility companies face trade-offs in navigating through today’s environmental challenges. On the one hand they face intense political, social and environmental pressures to move towards adop ...

Co-benefits of primary energy conservation, reduced emissions and costs through biomass and waste incineration CHP in district heating.

Energy utility companies face trade-offs in navigating through today’s environmental challenges. On the one hand, they face intense political, social and environmental pressures to move toward adopting energy systems that incorporate the use of renewable energy resources. By making this transition, they would contribute to carbon reduction and mitigate climate change. On the other hand, they need to coordinate their resources and become efficient when investing in new plants or upgrading existing production systems. This paper seeks to address the gains that utility companies can make when replacing older fossil-fuel-based plants with efficient combined heat and power (CHP) plants. We discuss the system effects from the changes in production of other units when new plants are constructed. Using one of the largest energy utility companies in Sweden, Fortum, as empirical point of departure, we analyzed the company’s transition from using coal and hydrocarbons to an increased use of renewables and waste incineration CHP. Our analysis was based on comprehensive production data on CO 2 , SO x and NO x emissions. Our findings suggest that primary energy consumption drops when older, less efficient fossil plants are substituted for new efficient CHP plants; this drop includes the effect on remaining production. The benefits in terms of primary energy savings might even be greater than what is achieved in meeting the goal of climate change abatement through reduced CO 2 emissions; NO x and SO x emissions are decreased with new biomass CHPs. Waste incineration CHP increases NO x and SO x emissions, when there is less fossil fuel to replace after the use of biomass is extended. In both cases, economic efficiency increase as costs are reduced.

The Transition from Product to Solution Selling: The Role and Organization of Employees Engaged in Current Business

ABSTRACT Purpose: This research investigates how to manage and organize existing employees when launching a solution sales strategy, specifically addressing whether it is possible to migrate existing sales representatives active in product sales to solution sales, and whether it is possible to combine the roles. Methodology/approach: A case-based approach was applied to a multinational firm, engaged in business-to-business sales that simultaneously launched a solution sales strategy in 17 countries. In-depth interviews with 29 managers and sales representatives were performed to inductively identify why some countries succeeded in the launch, while others did not. Findings: Because of fundamental differences in approach between solution and product sales, those countries where the solutions and product businesses were separated performed better. The difference in required capabilities and mindset meant that migrating sales representatives from product to solution sales is problematic. Research implications: This research offers evidence of differences in mindset and approach between different marketing and sales strategies, extending the conclusions to how these differences affect the possibility of migrating existing sales representatives when launching a new selling strategy. Whether to separate service and product sales has been debated. The present results indicate that separating the current product business from the new solution business facilitates the successful implementation of the new strategy. In the case company, the solutions represent a mixture of product and services, suggesting that the problem is not the difference between products and services, but rather different selling strategies and approaches that require different capabilities. Practical implications: When launching a solution sales strategy, the solution business should be separated from the current product business at both the organizational and personnel levels. Solution sales necessitates a particular approach and capabilities, making it unadvisable to transfer sales representatives and managers to the new solution business based solely on previous product sales success. Instead, a new skill profile must be developed taking account of the requirements of a demand-driven solution strategy. Originality/value/contribution: Consensus is lacking as to whether to separate product and service businesses. This article extends the debate to the field of solution sales, demonstrating that separation is needed to succeed in launching a solution sales strategy. Furthermore, this research extends our knowledge of the difference in approaches between different selling strategies, covering the possibility of successfully migrating existing sales representatives to a different selling strategy.

The Strategic Agenda of Corporate Europe: Sustainability or Not?

Businesses are entering into a period of transformation, where winners and losers may be separated according to their ability to succeed in a carbon-constrained world. CEO’s vision is vital for accelerating the response to this transformation. We examined CEO letters in order to understand the strategic importance of this issue to CEOs.