Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
616 Serra St.
Encina Hall E412
Stanford, CA 94305

mthurber@stanford.edu
(650) 724-9709 (voice)
(650) 724-1717 (fax)

Research Interests
Diffusion of central and distributed energy technologies; Reform of state-owned enterprises in energy; Business models of energy provision to the very poor.

Mark Thurber is Associate Director for Research at the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.  The Program, launched in September 2001, focuses on international frameworks for climate change mitigation, the role of state-controlled oil and gas companies in the world's hydrocarbon markets, the emerging global market for coal, and energy services for the world's poor.

Dr. Thurber's research interests include how institutional factors affect the diffusion of technologies - both large-scale, infrastructure-intensive ones such as for central electricity generation or carbon capture and storage (CCS) as well as small, highly-distributed ones such as improved cookstoves or generators for the very poor.  He also focuses on the strategy and performance relative to competitors of firms that have both connections to government and a broadly commercial character, which include some national oil companies.  Dr. Thurber is currently engaged in detailed studies of the national oil companies of Norway and Nigeria.   

Dr. Thurber holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering (Thermosciences) and a B.S.E. from Princeton University in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with a certificate from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.  

Before coming to PESD, Dr. Thurber worked in high-tech industry, focusing on high-volume manufacturing operations in Mexico, China, and Malaysia.  This work included a multi-year assignment in Guadalajara, Mexico building up local technological capability.