Information AboutAmory Lovins |
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Amory Bloch Lovins (born November 13 1947 in Washington, DC ) is a "consultant experimental physicist" with an MA in physics from Oxford. He is Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute , a MacArthur Fellowship recipient (1994), and author and co-author of books which make arguments for and popularize Energy -efficiency principles to public and corporate audiences. Lovins' works include '' Winning The Oil Endgame '', ''Factor Four'' with Hunter Lovins and Ernst Ulrich Von Weizsäcker , and '' Natural Capitalism '' with Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken . In the 1990s, his work with the Rocky Mountain Institute has included the design of an ultra-efficient automobile, the "Hypercar". Lovins has worked professionally as an Environmentalist and been one of the most influential American voices advocating a " Soft Energy Path " for the U.S. and other nations. He has advocated energy-use and energy-production concepts based, on one hand, on conservation and efficiency, and on the other, on the use of renewable sources of energy and on generation of energy at or near the site where the energy is actually used. LIFE AND WORK Lovins spent much of his youth in Silver Spring, Maryland and in Amherst, Massachusetts . In 1964 , as a former award-winning high-school science whiz, Lovins entered Harvard. After two years there, he transferred to Magdalen College , Oxford, England , where he studied experimental physics. He became a Junior Research Fellow in Oxford’s Merton College , where he studied for two years and earned a master of arts (M.A.). In 1979, Lovins received an Sc. D. from Bates College . But, having become a devotee to Snowdonia National Park , in northwest Wales , Lovins was lured out of academia. It was during his days in the UK that his career as a writer began. In 1971 he wrote about the endangered Welsh park in a book commissioned by David Brower, president of the environmental organization Friends Of The Earth . Lovins spent several years as British Representative for Friends of the Earth. He wrote a number of other books published by FOE. During this time his interests settled specifically into the area of resource policy, and most especially, energy policy. An essay that he originally penned as a U.N. paper grew into his first book concerned with energy, ''World Energy Strategies''. His next major work was co-authored with John H. Price and titled ''Non-Nuclear Futures''. Back in the U.S., Lovins guided mountaineering trips in the White Mountains of New Hampshire . The shock of the 1973 Energy Crisis helped create an audience for his ideas, and he appealed to this new audience with the publication of his 10,000-word essay "Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken?" published in ''Foreign Affairs'', in October 1976. Lovins (not quite 29 at this point) described the "hard energy path" as involving inefficient liquid-fuel automotive transport, as well as giant, centralized electricity-generating facilities, often burning fossil fuels (e.g., Coal or Petroleum ) or harnessing a fission reaction, greatly complicated by electricity wastage and loss. The " Soft Energy Path " which he wholly preferred involves efficient use of energy, diversity of energy production methods (and matched in scale and quality to end uses), and special reliance on " Soft Energy Technologies " based on solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, etc. For Lovins, large-scale electricity production facilities had an important place, but it was a place that they were already filling; in general, more would not be needed. One of his main concerns, was the danger of committing to nuclear energy to meet a society's energy needs. (See Radioactive Waste , Nuclear Proliferation , "Capital Costs" in Nuclear Power ). By 1978 Lovins had published six books, consulted widely, and was active in energy affairs in some 15 countries, as synthesist and lobbyist. In 1979 he married L. Hunter Sheldon, a lawyer, forester, and social scientist. Hunter received her undergraduate degree in Sociology and political studies from Pitzer College , and her J.D. from Loyola University 's School of Law. In 1982, along with Hunter, Amory Lovins founded the Rocky Mountain Institute , based in Snowmass, Colorado . Together with a group of colleagues, the Lovinses fostered efficient resource use and policy development that they believed would promote global security. RMI ultimately grew into an organization with a staff of around 50. By the mid 1980s, the Lovinses were being featured on major network TV programs like "60 Minutes." At RMI's headquarters, in Colorado, the south-facing building complex is so energy-efficient that, even with local -40° winter temperatures, the building interiors can maintain a comfortable temperature solely from the sunlight admitted plus the body heat of the people who work there. The environment can actually nurture semi-tropical and tropical indoor plants. Amory Lovins was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1984. He has received the World Technology Award, the Nissan, Mitchell, " Alternative Nobel " and Onassis Prizes. He has also received eight honorary doctorates. Working with many specialists, Lovins's more recent work at RMI has focused on efforts to transform sectors including the automobile (they designed a hydrogen-powered "hypercar" What is a Hypercar® Vehicle? to provide an example to Detroit), electricity, water, semiconductor, and real estate. AWARDS Amory Lovins has received nine honorary doctorates, a MacArthur Fellowship , the Heinz, Lindbergh, Right Livelihood ("Alternative Nobel"), World Technology, and Time Hero for the Planet awards, the Benjamin Franklin and Happold Medals, the Nissan, Shingo, Mitchell, and Onassis Prizes, and honorary membership of the American Institute Of Architects (AIA). QUOTES
BOOKS Books authored or co-authored by Amory Lovins:
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