Amory Lovins, The Future of Global Energy

Amory Lovins, co-founder and chief scientist of environmental think tank Rocky Mountain Institute, discussed his vision for a sustainable global energy future.

On the energy landscape in 2050: “In 2050, [I predict] there will be a diverse portfolio of renewables, dominated by photovoltaics and wind. By our predictions, the US could be running a 2.6 times larger economy with no oil, no coal, no nuclear energy, a third less natural gas, tripled efficiency and quintupled renewables. The world will resemble the world today, only better.”

On the rise of energy efficiency techniques: “21st-century technology is colliding head-on with 20th- and 19th- century institutions and cultures. The modern supply and demand process is creating low-hanging fruit that’s growing back faster than we can pick it – energy efficiency techniques are improving faster than we can employ them.”