Amory Lovins
Hypercars, Hydrogen, and the Automotive Transition
Designing and making cars differently and emphasizing ultralight weight, ultralow drag, and integrated design can reduce required propulsive power by about two-thirds. This can make direct-hydrogen fuel cells and commercially available compressed-hydrogen-gas tanks practical and affordable even at relatively high early prices. Coordinating such vehicles with deployment of fuel cells…
Winning the Oil Endgame: Executive Summary
This document offers an executive summary of RMI’s plan for getting off oil by the 2040s. Winning the Oil Endgame is a coherent strategy for ending oil dependence, starting with the United States but applicable worldwide. There are many analyses of the oil problem but this synthesis is the first…
Some Missing Elements of Sustainable Development
In this lecture given at Stanford University, Amory Lovins presents his theories on sustainable development. He argues that the efficient use of energy is a fundamental driver of sustainable development because it is part of the proper allocation of financial capital on the scale of the macroeconomy. Lovins provides several…
Towering Design Flaws
In August, 2003 the American electrical grid failed and caused blackouts throughout the country. Amory Lovins wrote this article in response to that energy catastrophe. He argues that the cause of the blackouts was an overcentralized power grid and inefficient pricing policies. Lovins claims that the fastest and cheapest way…
Designing a Sustainable Energy Future
Amory Lovins describes how to integrate negawatts with diverse supplies at least cost. “Negawatt” refers to electric end-use efficiency. This presentation also explains the concept of “tunneling through the cost barrier.” The future of energy is in superefficient end-use; increasingly diverse, dispersed, renewable electricity sources that cost less and make…