Gunther Glenk is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Mannheim and a Climate Fellow at Harvard Business School. His research examines the risks and opportunities of corporate decarbonization. Topics include the accounting for corporate emissions, the cost of decarbonization pathways, and the incentives for accelerated climate action. Recent work has focused on the competitiveness of clean energy technologies, such as energy storage, renewable hydrogen, and electric mobility.
Professor Glenk's work has been published in leading academic journals in the field of sustainability management and has been awarded honors and grants. He has been invited to present his work at academic conferences and industry meetings. Industry leaders and policymakers have solicited his advice on the opportunities and challenges of corporate transitions toward zero net emissions.
Professor Glenk received his BSc, MSc, and Dr from the Technische Universität München. He has been invited to Stanford University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research visits. Before his appointment at the University of Mannheim, he worked in consulting and entrepreneurship.
Recent Research
Faithful Accounting for Corporate Carbon Emissions
Working Paper, 2023
This paper builds on financial accounting standards to propose a framework that enables companies to faithfully represent their emissions. Performance measures defined in the framework allow managers, analysts, and the general public to assess a company's progress on its decarbonization path over time. Request Paper
Cost-Efficient Decarbonization of Portland Cement Production
Working Paper, 2023, with Rebecca Meier, Anton Kelnhofer, and Stefan Reichelstein
We develop a generic abatement cost framework for identifying cost-efficient pathways for industrial decarbonization. Applied to European cement plants, we find that a carbon price of €81 per ton, as observed on average in Europe in 2022, incentivizes firms to reduce their annual direct emissions by about one-third relative to the status quo. View Paper
Toward Decision-Useful Carbon Information
Working Paper, 2023
This paper proposes a taxonomy for assuring the quality of corporate carbon information. I show that the widely used Greenhouse Gas Protocol generally fails to produce decision-useful information on a firm's GHG emissions and how to revise the framework so that it would. View Paper
Advances in Power-to-Gas Technologies: Cost and Conversion Efficiency
Energy & Environmental Science, 2023, with Philip Holler and Stefan Reichelstein
This paper examines the cost and efficiency dynamics of three prevalent Power-to-Gas technologies. Our results suggest that electrolytic hydrogen production costs will approach but not reach the $1.0/kg cost target set by the U.S. Department of Energy for 2030. View Publication
Reversible Power-to-Gas Systems for Energy Conversion and Storage
Nature Communications, Volume 13, pp. 1-10, 2022, with Stefan Reichelstein
Reversible Power-to-Gas systems can convert electricity to hydrogen at times of ample and inexpensive power supply and operate in reverse to deliver electricity during times when power is relatively scarce. Here we show that such systems can already be economically viable relative to current hydrogen prices in the context of the German and the Texas electricity markets. View Publication