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Negawatts: Twelve Transitions, Eight Improvements, and One Distraction
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This article from 1996 describes the transitions required for the more efficient use of electricity. In the article, Amory Lovins argues that twelve fundamental transitions are necessary to move to the more efficient use of electricity. The transitions are: from the theoretical to the real world; from supply extrapolation to end-use-least-cost; from residential to all sectors; from load management to efficiency; from claimed to measured savings; from punishing efficiency to rewarding efficiency; from fragmentation to integration; from equipment to applications (and then equipment); from engineered delivery to market-making; from promoting hardware to correcting market failures; from engineering and economics to anthropology; and from marginal economics to qualitative superiority. Once these transitions are accomplished, the resulting economically efficient use of electricity will reduce the quantity of electricity needed to provide present services with unchanged or improved quality.
About the Authors
Amory Lovins
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