Company Profiles

The future of energy will be shaped largely by the efforts of the private sector. Who are the most forward looking companies in the world? And which companies might be missing their opportunity to adapt and evolve around 21st century energy systems.

While other energy blogs limit their focus to renewable start ups, we focus on all players in the energy sector – energy majors, cleantech start ups, energy service firms and commodity companies.

The Future of Energy “Majors”
The so-called Energy Majors are large, globally integrated companies with access to large natural resources, human talent, distribution channels and capital. These are the companies which provide more than 80% of the world’s primary energy needs via coal, petroleum and natural gas (e.g. hydrocarbons). They are also involved in processing raw forms of energy for the chemicals and materials industries.

The most familiar brands are ExxonMobil, Shell, ChevronTexaco, Total (France), Eni (Italy) and BP – but what about powerful ‘energy majors’ from places like Russia, Venezuela, Central Asia, China and Brazil?

And what about energy giants in the utility (electricity) sector as deregulation spreads around the globe?

How do these ‘energy majors’ companies see the future unfolding?

While the old ways of doing business have certainly changed, these energy majors have the human talent and capital to shift their focus for the 21st century especially around expanding markets for natural gas, deep water, and unconventional hydrocarbon reserves.

And how involved will they become in new non-hydrocarbon energy systems?

Cleantech Start ups
There is tremendous excitement for the growth of new renewable energy systems like solar, wind, next generation biofuels, hydrogen, batteries, fuel cells and ocean power.

We are eager to see the disruptive potential of emerging ‘cleantech’ start up community that includes some shing stars: GridPoint, Konarka, Nanosolar, ITM Power, LS9, Altair Nanotechnologies, Bloom Energy, Coskata, PolyFuelCell, CMR Ltd, ViaSpace, Vesta, SunPower, Valcent, and Tesla Motors.

Many of these companies will help to transform the energy sector.

The list of cleantech start ups grows each week and there is no doubt that some of these companies will be at the forefront of shaping the future of energy in the decades ahead.

Energy Services
The energy industry also revolves around innovations developed by energy service companies that help advance things like electricity grid management, distributed power generation, energy storage, deep water drilling, and carbon utilization.

Some of these energy service companies are well known brands like General Electric– while other start-ups innovate behind the scenes away from the mainstream media.

Commodity companies
The final category of companies driving the future of energy are those firms involved in commodities like platinum, copper, and iron. While not pure ‘energy companies’ their products are closely linked with energy systems and we see them continuing to play a lead role in the future of energy.