Amory Lovins
Natural Capitalism: Chapter 8 – Capital Gains (original)
Business has long neglected to value the ecological systems that support life. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, labor was scarce and natural capital was abundant. As that pattern of scarcity changes, putting natural capital on the balance sheet can open new avenues for profitability and environmental restoration.
Natural Capitalism: Chapter 9 – Nature’s Filaments (original)
Global fiber production—from forest products to synthetic, hydrocarbon-derived fabrics—is a hugely energy- and materials-intensive endeavor. An in-depth look at forestry and its associated products from cradle to grave indicates that numerous efficiency and productivity improvements are possible. Together these changes can and will transform the way that fiber is made…
Saving Forests From the Demand Side
“Saving Forests From the Demand Side” is a presentation given by Amory Lovins to the World Resource Institute. In the presentation, Lovins argues that efficiency and substitution in all forest-product value chains profitably displace most cutting of forests while providing the same services. Efficiency improvements can be made along the…
Exchanges between Mark Mills and Amory Lovins about the electricity used by the Internet
In 1999, Peter Huber and Mark Mills prepared for the Greening Earth Society (funded by the coal-centric Western Fuels Association) and summarized in aForbes article, “Dig More Coal—The PCs Are Coming,” a paper claiming that the Internet used 8% in 1998, and in 2008 would use 50%, of U.S. electricity,…
Negawatts for Fabs: Advanced Energy Productivity for Fun and Profit
In this presentation, Amory Lovins presents data showing that chip fabrication plants can be significantly more energy efficient. Lovins shows that the typical design process for chip fabs is inefficient and results in lost revenue for chip companies. Using a whole-systems design approach, chip fabs can be designed to yield…