Valerie Karplus | Energy Management and Systems Change in Factories and Supply Chains in China
Valerie Karplus | Energy Management and Systems Change in Factories and Supply Chains in China
Friday, January 30, 202612:00 PM - 1:20 PM (Pacific)
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall
SCCEI Seminar Series (Winter 2026)
Friday, January 30, 2026 | 12:00 pm -1:20 pm Pacific Time
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way
Energy Management and Systems Change in Factories and Supply Chains in China
In China, manufacturing energy use and industrial processes are economically important but are also responsible for approximately 60% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions and cause local environmental harm. This paper develops a framework for studying the multifaceted impacts of production systems and possible interventions to reduce them, then examines the empirical evidence of effectiveness. We apply this framework to iron and steel production, downstream metal components manufacturing, and automotive assembly, relying whenever possible on observations of decision-making in factories. The talk will conclude by discussing how existing incentives interact to influence the pace and direction of progress in addressing sustainability impacts across the supply chain.
Please register for the event to receive email reminders and add it to your calendar. Lunch will be provided.
About the Speaker
Valerie Karplus is a professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and associate director at the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University.
Karplus studies resource and environmental management in organizations operating in diverse national and industry contexts, with a focus on the role of institutions and management practices in explaining performance. Areas of expertise include innovation in global corporate and industrial supply chains, regional approaches to workforce and economic revitalization, and the integrated design and evaluation of public policies. Karplus has taught courses on public policy analysis, global business strategy and organization, entrepreneurship, and the political economy of energy transitions. At CMU, she runs the Laboratory for Energy and OrganizationsOpens in new window. Karplus is also a faculty affiliate of the MIT Energy InitiativeOpens in new window, the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy ResearchOpens in new window, and the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy.
She has previously worked in the development policy section of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Germany, as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow, and in the biotechnology industry in Beijing, China, as a Luce Scholar. From 2011 to 2016, she co-founded and directed the MIT-Tsinghua China Energy and Climate Project a five-year research effort focused on analyzing the design of energy and climate change policy in China, and its domestic and global impacts. Karplus previously served on the faculty at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Karplus holds a BS in biochemistry and political science from Yale University and a Ph.D. in engineering systems from MIT.