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 C. Thurber is Associate Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD) at Stanford University. The Program studies how policy and regulation intersect with business strategy, economics, and technology to determine global patterns of energy production and use.

Dr. Thurber’s research has focused on the role of state-owned enterprises in the most important energy markets around the world. He is an editor of the book Oil and Governance: State-owned Enterprises and the World Energy Supply and co-author of chapters on the Norwegian and Nigerian national oil companies and on how risk has shaped the structure of the hydrocarbon industry. He is currently editing a book manuscript on the emerging global market for coal.

Dr. Thurber also directs the research at PESD on how energy services can more effectively be delivered to low-income populations, improving health, development, and environmental outcomes. He has recently studied the effect of design, demographic, and distribution factors on uptake and usage of improved biomass stoves in India.

He 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, Mark worked in high-tech industry, focusing on manufacturing operations in Mexico (where he lived for several years), China, and Malaysia.