Eric Spiegel T'87

"The major energy players in 20 years may not even exist today," says Eric Spiegel T'87. "The big winners will definitely be companies that push and innovate and invest in the right new technologies and business models, and I'm not sure the behemoth oil, power, and transportation companies will be among them."

In his new book, Energy Shift: Game- Changing Options for Fueling the Future (McGraw-Hill, 2009), Spiegel warns that we are on the brink of a major shift in how the world consumes energy. "The changes will be of tectonic proportions," he says," shaking up virtually every industry in the next two decades." Maneuvering successfully through the shift will require global cooperation and massive private and public investment at funding levels that will make today's economic stimulus plans look miniscule.

As senior vice president and global practice leader for energy, chemicals, and utilities at Booz & Company, Spiegel has provided strategic advice to energy companies worldwide for three decades. The coming energy shift, he writes, is being propelled by rising energy demand; diminishing supplies from cheap, easily extracted sources; and growing public alarm over global climate change. Oil production, especially in the hands of politically volatile countries, will not be a dependable resource in the coming decades. Cheaper energy sources like coal have severe environmental consequences. And solar power, wind power, and biofuels "won't put a dent in rising global energy demand," according to Spiegel.

In Energy Shift, Spiegel outlines three much-needed technological breakthroughs: a method for trapping carbon dioxide so that increased coal-burning emissions won't worsen global warming; safer nuclear power and waste products; and a more efficient battery, to help make solar and wind energy more viable and electric cars more economical. Spiegel is not optimistic about how current industry leaders will respond to the challenge. "Even as the industry 'decarbonizes' and the internal-combustion engine gives way to electric and hybrid vehicles," he says, "getting the big energy and transportation companies to change the way they do things is extremely difficult. They have huge amounts of capital invested in the status quo."

The book, which Spiegel coauthored with Booz partner and European energy consultant Neil McArthur is a jargon-free and fast read: "You can pick it up in the airport in New York and finish it before you land in LA," he says. "The book is written for executives in any industry and consumers from all walks of life. Everyone will be affected by the energy shift."

Spiegel first got interested in energy while working as an undergraduate researcher in Harvard's nuclear energy and environmental policy department. He joined Booz right out of Tuck and has consulted for major energy companies in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. His new book is dedicated to his teenage daughter and son. "I hope that when they have kids in 20 years, we're on a much better climate path than we are today," he says.