The Supply Chain Impact of Energy Transitions

Energy transitions are both imminent and significant, as we manage the impact of climate change across industries. From electric vehicles for transportation, to solar panels and windmills for energy generation, and hydrogen and geothermal for heating, these shifts are impacting virtually every industry and customer. In this session we will focus on the impact of these transitions on the supply chain — the set of companies that provide the technology and components to make these shifts a reality — and the regulations, targets and metrics that impact the demand shifts associated with these products. Using insights derived from a 10-year project on critical material supply chains with the Department of Energy, as well as reports regarding automobile supply chains and product environmental claims, we will demonstrate that if done right, these transitions can provide a great opportunity for localized production and economic growth, while also benefiting customers.

Ananth Iyer is dean and professor of operations management and strategy in the UB School of Management. He holds a doctorate in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s in industrial engineering and operations research from Syracuse University. His research and teaching interests are in the area of supply chain management, inter-firm operational coordination and operations management. His research focuses understanding, modeling and empirically validating approaches to manage operations and supply chains dealing with problems in the areas of capacity management, resource allocation, supplier contracts, scheduling and inventory planning, with a focus on providing insights to improve practice.