Amory Lovins

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Amory Bloch Lovins (born November 13, 1947 in Washington, DC ) is an American physicist and environmental activist .

Amory Lovins 2013

Lovins is one of the CEOs of the Rocky Mountain Institute and the author of numerous books aimed at making energy more efficient in private and industrial settings. His publications include Factor Four (with his then wife Hunter Lovins and Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker ) and Natural Capitalism (with Paul Hawken and Hunter Lovins). In the 1980s , Lovins helped develop an extremely efficient motor vehicle , the hypercar .

Lovins is one of the most influential advocates of the "soft energy path" in the United States . He is the author of numerous publications. On the one hand Lovins advocates saving energy , on the other hand the use of renewable energy .

life and work

Lovins spent most of his youth in Silver Spring , Maryland and in Amherst , Massachusetts . In 1964, he went to Harvard University after receiving multiple science awards at his college. After two years he went to Magdalen College of Oxford University , where he experimental physics studied. He then received a research fellowship at Merton College , Oxford, where he continued studying for two years and graduated with a Master of Arts (M.A.). In 1978 , Lovins received his PhD from Bates College .

In the following years, however, Lovins did not hit a scientific career, but instead used his energies for Friends of the Earth , an environmental organization for which he was a representative in Great Britain for several years . His main interests now shifted to resource policy, especially energy policy . He published two more extensive books on energy ( World Energy Strategies and Non-Nuclear Futures , together with John H. Price ) before returning to the USA.

The 1973 oil crisis (oil price shock) gave Lovins' ideas more attention. Foreign Affairs published his essay Energy Strategy: The Road not taken? . In it, he describes the use of “hard energies”, such as petroleum-powered automobiles, large central power plants that often work inefficiently, and nuclear power plants . He counters this with "soft technologies" (also called alternative energy sources), such as B. Solar energy , wind energy and biofuel .

In 1979 he married L. Hunter Sheldon, a lawyer and social scientist with whom he published several books. In 1982, Lovins and his wife founded the Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass , Colorado . The institute was gradually expanded into a showpiece for energy efficiency. As early as the 1980s, it was able to generate a comfortable room temperature, even on the frequent freezing cold winter nights in Colorado (−40 ° C), which is only generated by solar power and the body heat of the employees. You can even keep tropical and subtropical plants there.

Amory Lovins has received numerous awards. In 1983 he received the Right Livelihood Award , often referred to as the “Alternative Nobel Prize” in Germany . In 1993 he was a MacArthur Fellow and in 1998 he received a Heinz Award .

In the May 11, 2009 issue of Time magazine, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People.

Publications

  • Winning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profit, Jobs and Security . (2005) ISBN 1-84407-194-4 ( online as PDF )
  • The Natural Advantage Of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation And Governance in the 21st Century . (2004) ISBN 1-84407-121-9
  • Small Is Profitable: The Hidden Economic Benefits of Making Electrical Resources the Right Size . (2003) ISBN 1-881071-07-3
  • Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution . (2000) ISBN 1-85383-763-6 . German: Eco-capitalism: the industrial revolution of the 21st century, prosperity in harmony with nature . (2000)
  • Energy Unbound: A Fable for America's Future . (1986) ISBN 0-87156-820-9
  • Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security . (1982 new edition 2001) ISBN 0-931790-28-X ( online as PDF )
  • Soft Energy Paths: Towards a Durable Peace . (1977) ISBN 0-06-090653-7 . German: Soft energy: the program for the energy and industrial policy conversion of our society . (1978)
  • Harvard Business Review on Business and the Environment .
  • Factor Four: Doubling Wealth - Halving Resource Use: A Report to the Club of Rome . German: factor four: double prosperity - halved consumption of nature; the new report to the Club of Rome . (1995)
  • A Road Map for Natural Capitalism .
  • World Energy Strategies: Facts, Issues, and Options .
  • Non-Nuclear Futures: The Case for an Ethical Energy Strategy .
  • Energy / War: Breaking the Nuclear Link .
  • The Energy Controversy: Soft Path Questions and Answers .
  • The First Nuclear World War: A Strategy for Preventing Nuclear Wars and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons .
  • Nuclear power: Technical Bases for Ethical Concern .
  • Least-Cost Energy: Solving the C02 Problem .
  • Openpit mining .

See also

Commons : Amory Lovins  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ Scientists & Thinkers . Time . (accessed April 30, 2009)
personal data
SURNAME Lovins, Amory
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lovins, Amory Bloch
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist and environmental activist
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC , USA