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Name of Speaker
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Safak Yucel |
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Schedule
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12 Aug 2026, 10am – 11.30am (60 min talk + 30 min Q&A) |
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Venue
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BIZ2-413C
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| Link to register
(via Zoom) |
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Title
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Delivery Terms for Voluntary Carbon Offsets
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Abstract
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In addition to abating their emissions, companies purchase carbon offsets for voluntary decarbonization targets, such as reaching net-zero emissions. A carbon offset represents emissions reduction achieved by a developer through investments in projects, such as forestry and renewable energy. Companies purchase offsets under two delivery terms. The first is forward delivery, where the buyer orders a certain quantity before sellers invest and yield uncertainty realizes. The second is prompt delivery, where sellers invest and uncertainty realizes, before the buyer orders offsets. Motivated by the importance of choosing the right delivery term for buyers and developers, in this paper, we investigate economic and environmental implications of these delivery terms. Our results offer several managerial insights: A buyer should prefer forward delivery if investment cost is low, but prompt delivery otherwise. Interestingly, the delivery term that leads to a lower cost for the buyer may actually require higher abatement. Second, developers should prefer forward delivery for low-cost projects as well. One would expect that the delivery term that enables developers to make higher investment results in higher profit. However, we show that prompt delivery may lead to higher profit despite lower investment. Finally, environmental groups should promote forward delivery only for a project with a low investment cost. We find that the delivery term that leads to a higher abatement by the buyer may not result in a greater reduction in emissions. This then suggests that, contrary to the common practice, focusing only on the buyer’s abatement may be misguided, and environmental groups should instead also take developers’ investment into account in determining which delivery term to promote |
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About the Speaker
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Safak Yucel is an associate professor of Operations Management (with tenure) at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. Prof. Yucel is also the associate director of the Business of Sustainability Initiative. His main research interests are in sustainable operations, with a focus on renewable energy. He is also interested in the economic and environmental implications of new business models. Prof. Yucel’s research has appeared in leading journals, including Management Science and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. He has worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, prior to receiving his Ph.D. in Operations Management from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. |
