Amory Lovins, who some have called the world’s foremost visionary in the field of energy efficiency, gave 300 listeners at a URI lecture hall last week a rapid-fire sampling of initiatives to achieve that goal.
Lovins’ lecture was entitled “Creating a Sustainable Energy Policy.” The Rocky Mountain Institute, the Colorado-based, nonprofit research center that Lovins founded in 1982, either directly or indirectly sponsored many of the initiatives.
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For example, RMI over the past decade has enticed a group of investors to pour $10 billion into research for a hydrogen-powered “Hypercar.” Lovins showed the audience an image of a carbon-fiber sport utility vehicle, which is half the weight of a Ford Explorer and gets 99 miles per gallon. It doesn’t rust or dent and can withstand collisions five times better than normal SUVs.
As if that’s not enough, Lovins said the car has the ability to produce excess power that can be sold back to the local power company. Lovins said he expects Hypercars will have “major if not dominant market share” by 2010.
Then there’s the ultra-efficient RMI headquarters, built in the snow-capped peaks of Colorado and constructed of stone and wood. Despite enduring temperatures of minus 47, it’s “superinsulated” and heated by 99 percent passive solar power. To illustrate the system’s effectiveness, the RMI staff has grown dozens of banana crops inside.
There are simple examples, too.
Near the beginning of his presentation, Lovins reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a collapsible silver drinking cup and showed it to the audience. He’s been carrying the cup for about 30 years, he said.
“I’ve saved a whole lot of paper and plastic cups over the years,” he said.
Much of his hour-long presentation centered on his theory of “natural capitalism,” which was explained in a new book co-authored by Lovins titled “Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution.”
Lovins’ lecture outlined the book’s basic premise. At the start of the industrial revolution, natural resources were bountiful but labor was scarce. But now that dichotomy has shifted.
“The pattern of scarcity has reversed,” Lovins told the URI audience. “What we’re short of now is not people, but nature. Industrial capitalism is liquidating and not valuing it’s largest source of capital – the natural world,” he said.
Many business leaders might scoff at such a statement. Proponents of green ideologies often find themselves at odds with the business community, because protecting natural resources usually means increased costs from regulatory mandates or fines.
Lovins, however, is anything but anti-business. Rather, he is out to convince businesses that by eliminating waste and system inefficiency, they can not only make money but also crack open myriad business opportunities. He’s putting the energy-conservation debate in their terms by espousing the benefits to shareholder value and competitive advantage.
Lovins said RMI works with “early adopting” companies that are setting the pace on the energy-conservation front. “Their rivals have to choose whether they want to follow suit or lose market share,” he said.
He points to Interface, an international flooring company that made two basic design changes to its manufacturing systems and cut power consumption by 92 percent.
“They basically used fatter, shorter, straighter pipes instead of skinny, long, crooked pipes,” Lovins said. The result: less friction, which meant the pumps needed for the system could be smaller, cheaper and use far less energy.
Since motors use 75 percent of industrial electricity – and most motors are used as pumping devices – the same design concept used by Interface could be duplicated throughout the world, saving a staggering amount of energy, he said.
But companies that don’t manufacture anything can realize huge savings too.
New buildings can be built to use 90 percent less energy than traditional buildings. The renovation of an office tower in Chicago, for example, resulted in energy savings of 75 percent, Lovins said.
One thing is for sure: Lovins’ ideas are turning heads in the business world.
Dallas Morning News business columnist Scott Burns in August wrote of Lovins “Natural Capitalism” book: “If the CEO or board members of the corporation for which you work haven’t read it, they are unprepared for the future.”
The lecture was part of URI’s fall honors colloquium, “A Just and Sustainable Future: Overcoming Barriers to Action.” It was sponsored by Narragansett Electric Co.
