In this audio lecture, Amory Lovins argues for a sound energy policy that rewards innovation, and for a serious commitment to implementing energy-efficient technological improvements. These combined efforts could subsequently result in saving half of our oil, half of our gas, and three-fourths of our electricity. They would also decrease our dependence on foreign resources and would indirectly alleviate some of the world's biggest problems.
Throughout the Energy Efficiency series, Amory Lovins, has diligently presented countless statistics and case studies to support the need for, and demonstrate the benefits of, improved energy services. In this audio lecture, he now identifies a significant number of formidable barriers to energy efficiency, and prescribes a variety of ways to overcome these barriers, including sexy marketing campaigns and a direct appeal to the bottom line.
Amory Lovins continues his discussion on environmental sustainability through a focus on energy efficiency in transportation. In this University podcast, he presents the business case for lighter, more slippery vehicles and criticizes automobile manufacturers for not fully embracing the radical changes necessary to transform the commercial transportation industry.
"The United States can break its dependency on oil by 2040." So says Amory Lovins, who discusses in this audio lecture the strategy outlined in his book, Winning the Oil Endgame, through which the country can eliminate its use of oil and have a much stronger economy. Most significantly, this plan does not rely on big government programs, but leans primarily on the for-profit business sector to lead the way.
In this audio lecture, Amory Lovins demonstrates the value of the "whole system optimization approach" to energy efficiency in the industrial sector. He provides examples of system designs and integration that produce the greatest savings, efficiencies, and optimization.
The era of corporations integrating sustainable practices is being surpassed by a new age of corporations actively transforming the market to make it more sustainable. Open access to this article is made possible by The Regents of the University of Michigan on behalf of the Erb Institute.
Long hailed as a major piece of the climate solution, sustainable business practices have not only fallen short: They even enable the continued dominance of fossil fuel.
If humanity is to survive the climate crisis, we must manage a just and orderly transition away from fossil fuels. The correct models for this resolution are triage, euthanasia, and hospice.
Open-access to this article made possible by University of Michigan.
Executives from 10 major corporations discuss the innovative ways that they are putting societal issues at the core of their companies’ strategy and operations.
Unless clean tech follows well-established rules of innovation and commercialization, the industry’s promise to provide sustainable sources of energy will fail.
