1 / 12

Finding Philanthropies Sweet Spot Symposium

Aligning Business and Philanthropy to Drive Sustainable Social Change: The Fuel Cell Opportunity Benson P. Lee, President Technology Management, Inc. Cleveland, Ohio. Finding Philanthropies Sweet Spot Symposium. Stanford Social Innovation Review & Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Download Presentation

Finding Philanthropies Sweet Spot Symposium

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Aligning Business and Philanthropy to Drive Sustainable Social Change: The Fuel Cell OpportunityBenson P. Lee, PresidentTechnology Management, Inc.Cleveland, Ohio Finding Philanthropies Sweet Spot Symposium Stanford Social Innovation Review & Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors May 16, 2006 Dahesh Museum New York , NY

  2. Technology Management, Inc. (TMI) • Vision • Business mission leveraged by foundations and NGOs to further their social missions • Fuel cells in the Third World • 1 kW solutions, starting with clean water • Technology + Philanthropy + Business • “Do better by doing good”

  3. Fuel Cells • Chemical process converts fuel into electricity and heat • Twice as efficient as today’s power plants • Clean energy, non-polluting • In use since the ’60s • Commercial systems must be efficient and affordable, at NASA levels of dependability • Now at the demonstration stage

  4. Developed at SOHIO Acquired technology and technologists in 1990 3-5 years from shipping product Brutal field testing Engineer for volume production Three I,000 Watt Systems

  5. TMI System Evolution 2002 Demonstration 2006-7 Field Test System ~50-60 lbs. • Virtually any fuel: • Natural gas, propane, kerosene, blends • Ethanol, vegetable oil • Biogas • Ease of maintenance • Scalable by adding systems • Full production: ~$500. 29” X 12” x 12” 42” X 15” x 15” ~100 lbs.

  6. Fuel Cell Systems • Core advantage: grid independent • One time opportunity • Distributed generation – on-site alternative to utility grid • Bypass dependence on foreign oil • Head off oil, gas, and coal consumption • Advance renewable biomass energy sources • Third World can lead reduction of greenhouse gases • New Partnerships can drive change • Local control • Social change and business creation • Electricity infrastructure – common goal • Technologists, entrepreneurs and foundations

  7. Scenario – Rural Village in India • Loan to self-help group for fuel cell system • Power for water purifiers and pumps • Education on clean water and health • Cooking, refrigeration, lighting, telecommunications • Businesses created, • Social and economic infrastructure • Repay loan, replicate

  8. 4 Billion People: A Transformative Opportunity • Enormous business opportunity • Two critical challenges: • Financing to bring to scale • Partnerships on the ground

  9. First World Markets • Early adopters -- performance/features provide more value than low price • Natural gas pipelines and telecom towers • Military, many mobile • Truck APUs (Auxiliary Power Units) • TMI’s partnership model: • Market knowledge, market delivery capabilities, end user relationships

  10. Third World Markets • No templates to follow • Planning … requires a process of discovery • New kinds of partnerships • NGOs, foundations, governments, and/or businesses • Local stakeholders

  11. Program Related Investment (PRI) • “… if foundations are willing to take on the risk and complexity of pioneering financial solutions to these market gaps, they can achieve program objectives while still creating investments that earn market-comparable returns.”* • Unique opportunity for • Convergence of for-profit missions with social missions to alleviate Third World problems * p.18 Investing for Impact – Managing and Measuring Proactive Social Investments Foundation Strategy Group (January 2006)

  12. Accelerate Sustainable Social Changes • Significant financial returns possible • Electric infrastructure, based on fuel cells, offers a sustainable, systemic approach • Alignment … impossible can become natural and inevitable

More Related