Company Description

Based in Lund, Sweden, Taurus Energy AB undertakes commercial development projects involving ethanol production. Taurus has developed a new method for production of ethanol from forestry and agricultural waste. The method, which is protected by 13 internationally-patented microbiological processes, makes it possible to produce ethanol using renewable raw materials that could not previously be utilized. Taurus Energy’s method represents major environmental gains, while also dramatically reducing the production costs for ethanol compared with existing methods. Taurus’s business concept is to license its energy technology to global customer.

Indeed, ethanol is a fuel that is rapidly gaining in popularity throughout the world, in part as a result of rising oil prices and ever more stringent international environmental legislation. The global market for ethanol engine fuel is expected to reach more than SEK 300 billion per year. The principal owner of Taurus Energy is Forskarpatent i Syd AB, which specializes in creating commercial opportunities based on the patenting and licensing of scientific inventions.

Student Project Description

The project designed by Taurus Energy AB for the George Washington University MBA students consisted of analyzing the U.S. ethanol industry in order to determine the optimal target market for Taurus’s customized fuel technology. Taurus tasked the students with conducting primary and secondary research such as identifying states where ethanol use was growing and listing potential competitors and collaborators. It was important for the students to help Taurus identify U.S. partners. Unfamiliar with the U.S. laws and environmental regulations, Taurus also had the GW students research relevant legislation for this sector. The final project deliverable consisted of an extensive market-entry strategy and marketing plan that the students presented to Taurus’ leadership team at the Embassy of the United States in Stockholm.