COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

http://vimeo.com/30217707 Amory B. Lovins, a 63-year-old American consultant, experimental physicist and 1993 MacArthur Fellow, has been active at the nexus of energy, resources, environment, development, and security in more than 50 countries for 35 years, including 14 years based in England. He is widely considered among the world’s leading authorities on energy—especially its efficient use and sustainable supply—and a fertile innovator in integrative design. After two years at Harvard, Mr. Lovins transferred to Oxford, and two years later became a don at 21, receiving in consequence an Oxford MA by Special Resolution (1971) and, later, 11 honorary doctorates of various U.S. and U.K. universities. He has been Regents’ Lecturer at the U. of California both in Energy and Resources and in Economics; Grauer Lecturer at UBC; Luce Visiting Professor at Dartmouth; Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Colorado; Oikos Visiting Professor of Business, U. of St. Gallen; an engineering visiting professor at Peking U.; and 2007 MAP/Ming Professor at Stanford’s School of Engineering. Rocky Mountain Institute’s Reinventing Fire (October 2011) shows how to run the 2050 U.S. economy with no oil, coal, or nuclear energy, one-third less natural gas, a $5-trillion lower present-valued cost (ignoring all externalities), compelling business models that drive the transition, and smart policies to speed it without requiring an Act of Congress. Shifting the electricity system to efficiency and renewables depends critically on super-efficient buildings, where integrative design presents important opportunities for expanding returns.