Amory Bloch Lovins (born November 13, 1947) is an American writer, physicist, and former chairman and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has written about energy policy and related topics for 40 years and worked on the US National Petroleum Council, an oil industry group that advises on energy matters, from 2011 to 2018.

Lovins has supported energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy sources, and the production of energy close to where it is used. He has also promoted the idea of a "negawatt revolution," explaining that people who use electricity are not focused on the amount of electricity they receive but on the services energy provides. In the 1990s, his work with the Rocky Mountain Institute included designing a very efficient car called the Hypercar. He has given expert testimony and written 31 books, including Reinventing Fire, Winning the Oil Endgame, Small is Profitable, Brittle Power, and Natural Capitalism.

Early life and education

Lovins was born in Washington, DC. His father, Gerald H. Lovins, worked as an engineer, and his mother, Miriam Lovins, worked as a social services administrator. Lovins is the brother of Julie Beth Lovins, a computational linguist who created the first stemming algorithm for word matching.

In 1964, Lovins entered Harvard College as a National Merit Scholar. After two years there, he moved to Oxford. In 1969, he became a junior research fellow at Merton College, Oxford, which gave him a temporary Oxford master of arts status. He left Oxford in 1971 without earning a degree because the university would not allow him to study for a doctorate in energy. Lovins moved to London to work on energy-related projects and returned to the United States in 1981. He settled in western Colorado in 1982.

Lovins’ four grandparents moved to the United States from small villages between Kyiv and Odesa in Ukraine in the early 20th century. Most of his other family members are believed to have been killed by German Nazis during the 1941 Tarashcha massacre.

Work

From 1965 to 1981, Lovins led mountain climbing trips and took photos of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. He shared these photos in a book called At Home in the Wild: New England's White Mountains. In 1971, he wrote a book about the Snowdonia National Park in Wales, titled Eryri, the Mountains of Longing. This book was requested by David Brower, who was president of Friends of the Earth. Lovins worked for Friends of the Earth as their representative in Britain for about 10 years.

In the early 1970s, Lovins became interested in how resources, especially energy, are used. The 1973 energy crisis made people pay more attention to his work. An essay he wrote for the United Nations later became his first book about energy, World Energy Strategies (1973). His next book, Non-Nuclear Futures: The Case for an Ethical Energy Strategy (1975), was written with John H. Price.

By 1978, Lovins had written six books and worked as a consultant for many groups. In 1982, he and his wife, Hunter Lovins, started the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) in Snowmass, Colorado. With other experts, the Lovinses worked to use resources wisely and develop ways to protect the environment for the future.

Lovins has worked with many large companies, real estate developers, and energy providers. He also helped government groups, including the OECD, United Nations, Resources for the Future, and 13 U.S. states. He served on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Research Advisory Board in 1980 and 1981. He also worked on military energy projects for the Defense Science Board from 1999 to 2001 and from 2006 to 2008. Recently, he held a visiting professor position at Stanford University’s engineering school.

Since 1982, RMI has grown into an organization that both researches and takes action. It now has over 600 employees and an annual budget of more than $120 million. RMI has also started five companies that operate for profit.

Ideas

Amory Lovins wrote an article titled "Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken?" in Foreign Affairs in 1976. He explained that the United States faced an important decision point and had two possible choices. One path, supported by U.S. policies, focused on using more fossil fuels and nuclear power, which could harm the environment. The other path, called "the soft path" by Lovins, promoted using renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, along with reducing energy use and improving energy efficiency. In October 1977, The Atlantic published a cover story about Lovins' ideas. Residential solar energy systems are examples of soft energy technologies, and quickly using these systems is important for a soft energy strategy.

Lovins described the "hard energy path" as involving inefficient energy use and relying on non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels. He said the soft path has effects that are "gentle, pleasant, and manageable" compared to the hard path. These effects can influence individuals, families, and even society as a whole at national and global levels.

A documentary film titled Lovins on the Soft Path was created by Amory and Hunter Lovins. It won several awards, including "Best Science and Technology Film" at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1983 and "Best Energy Film" at the International Environmental Film Festival in 1982.

Lovins wrote that nuclear power plants are not always reliable because they can fail unexpectedly for long periods. In the United States, 132 nuclear plants were built, and 21% were permanently closed due to problems with reliability or cost. Another 27% had completely failed for a year or more at least once. The remaining nuclear plants produce about 90% of their maximum potential but must shut down for about one month every 18 months for maintenance. To handle the unpredictability of nuclear and fossil fuel power plants, energy companies keep an extra 15% of power ready for use.

Lovins also noted that nuclear plants have a major disadvantage: they must shut down immediately during a power failure, but they cannot restart quickly. For example, during the Northeast Blackout of 2003, nine U.S. nuclear plants had to shut down temporarily. After restarting, their energy output was less than 3% of normal for three days and dropped below 50% after 12 days.

In a 2011 article for The Huffington Post, Lovins said nuclear power has risks, including the possibility of harm to many people far away, the risk of nuclear weapons, and the dangers of radioactive waste. He also said nuclear plants are slow and expensive to build, which makes them less helpful for protecting the environment. He wrote that Japan’s location, which has frequent earthquakes and tsunamis, is not a good place for 54 nuclear reactors.

In 2014, Lovins commented on nuclear power in the United Kingdom.

A negawatt is a unit of energy saved, the opposite of a watt. Lovins promoted a "negawatt revolution," saying that people want services like hot water, cold drinks, and lighting, not just electricity. These services can be cheaper if electricity is used more efficiently.

In 1994, Lovins designed a car called the Hypercar. It would have a very light, aerodynamic body made from advanced materials, a low-drag shape, and a hybrid engine. Designers said the Hypercar could use three to five times less fuel than today’s cars while offering similar performance, safety, and affordability.

In 1999, an organization called RMI started a company called Hypercar Inc. to develop the Hypercar. In 2004, the company changed its name to Fiberforge to focus on reducing the cost of making advanced materials.

Lovins said the Hypercar began being sold in 2014, with examples like the all-carbon electric BMW i3 and the Volkswagen XL1, which gets 313 miles per gallon.

Lovins does not see his energy ideas as "green" or "left-wing." He supports private companies and free market economics. He mentioned that Rupert Murdoch made News Corporation carbon-neutral, saving millions of dollars. However, he said large institutions are becoming less effective, and he encourages the growth of "citizen organizations" worldwide.

Criticism

The Breakthrough Institute has pointed out disagreements with some ideas proposed by Amory Lovins. A major issue is Lovins' assumption that improving energy efficiency directly leads to lower total energy use. However, the Jevons Paradox explains that when energy efficiency improves, energy use may actually increase because energy becomes cheaper. This effect, called the "rebound effect," is not fully addressed in Lovins' work.

Other ideas from Lovins have also been questioned. For example, in his book Reinventing Fire, Lovins suggests that 50% of the United States' electricity could come from wind power by 2050. Other experts believe this is unlikely, as wind power is probably limited to about 30%. Similar concerns are raised about solar power, where estimates of 30% are considered too high. Additionally, Lovins' work does not explain how large amounts of electricity storage would be needed to supply power when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

Awards

Amory Lovins was chosen as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1984, of the World Academy of Art and Science in 1988, and of the World Business Academy in 2001. He has been awarded the Right Livelihood Award, the Blue Planet Prize, the Volvo Environment Prize, the 4th Annual Heinz Award in the Environment in 1998, and the National Design (Design Mind), Jean Meyer, and Lindbergh Awards.

Lovins has also been awarded the Time Hero for the Planet awards, the Benjamin Franklin and Happold Medals, the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award, and the Shingo, Nissan, Mitchell, and Onassis Prizes. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1993 and is an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, and an Honorary Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation.

In 2009, Time magazine named Lovins as one of the world's 100 most influential people.

On March 17, 2016, Lovins received the Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse (Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit) from the Federal Republic of Germany for helping explain Germany's Energiewende, particularly through his idea of "soft energy" and its role in promoting peace and prosperity.

Lovins was a senior Ashoka Fellow in 2009.

Personal life

In 1979, Amory Lovins married L. Hunter Sheldon, who was a lawyer, forester, and social scientist. They separated in 1989 and divorced in 1999. In 2007, he married Judy Hill, who is a fine-art landscape photographer.

Books

This is a list of books written or co-written by Amory B. Lovins:

• World Energy Strategies: Facts, Issues, and Options (London: Friends of the Earth Ltd. on behalf of Earth Resources Research Ltd., 1975). ISBN 978-0-88410-601-2.
• The Energy Controversy: Soft Path Questions and Answers (1979). ISBN 978-0-913890-22-6.
• Non-Nuclear Futures: The Case for an Ethical Energy Strategy (with John H. Price). San Francisco, 1980. ISBN 978-0-06-090777-8.
• Least-Cost Energy: Solving the CO2 Problem (Andover, Mass.: Brick House Pub. Co., 1982). ISBN 978-0-931790-36-2.
• Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security (with L Hunter Lovins). Andover, Mass.: Brick House, 1982. Reprinted in 2001. ISBN 0-931790-28-X.
• The First Nuclear World War (with Patrick O'Heffernan; L Hunter Lovins). New York: Morrow, 1983. ISBN 978-0-09-155830-7.
• Reinventing Electric Utilities: Competition, Citizen Action, and Clean Power (1996). ISBN 978-1-55963-455-7.
• Factor Four: Doubling Wealth – Halving Resource Use: A Report to the Club of Rome (1997). ISBN 978-1-85383-407-3.
• Natural Capitalism (2000). ISBN 1-85383-763-6.
• Small Is Profitable (2003). ISBN 1-881071-07-3.
• The Natural Advantage Of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation And Governance in the 21st Century (2004). ISBN 1-84407-121-9.
• Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run: A Call to Save the Earth (2007). ISBN 978-1-57805-138-0.

• German edition: Faktor vier. Doppelter Wohlstand – halbierter Verbrauch (1997). ISBN 978-3-426-77286-7.
• French edition: Facteur 4: Rapport au Club de Rome (1997). ISBN 978-2-904082-67-2.
• German edition: Öko-Kapitalismus: Die industrielle Revolution des 21. Jahrhunderts (2002). ISBN 978-1-4000-3941-8.