Amory Lovins

Amory Lovins, a consultant physicist, is among the world’s leading innovators in energy and its links with resources, security, economy, development, and environment. He has advised the energy and other industries for four decades as well as the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense. His work in 50+ countries (including some former Soviet Republics) has been recognized by the “Alternative Nobel,” Blue Planet, Volvo, Zayed, Onassis, Nissan, Shingo, and Mitchell Prizes, the Benjamin Franklin and Happold Medals, MacArthur and Ashoka Fellowships, 12 honorary doctorates, and the Heinz, Lindbergh, Jean Mayer, Time Hero for the Planet, National Design, and World Technology Awards. A Harvard and Oxford dropout, former Oxford don, honorary U.S. architect, and Swedish engineering academician, he has briefed 23 heads of state and advised major firms and governments worldwide, recently including the leadership of Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, Ford, Holcim, Interface, and Wal-Mart. He cofounded in 1982 and serves as Chief Scientist and Chairman Emeritus of Rocky Mountain Institute (www.rmi.org)—a think-and-do tank that creates abundance by design. He has held visiting posts at ten universities ranging from Peking to Stanford, teaching only subjects he’s never formally studied. He is currently Professor of Practice at the Naval Postgraduate School, an advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations, and a member of the National Petroleum Council, having worked with oil majors for 40 years. He has written more than 500 publications spanning many disciplines. The latest of his 31 books, with 60 RMI coauthors, is Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era. The best-known of his previous books is Natural Capitalism (with Paul Hawken). In 2009, Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Foreign Policy, one of the 100 top global thinkers.