In his new book, "Reinventing Fire," Amory Lovins shares ingenious ideas for the next era of energy.

Why you should listen

Amory Lovins was worried (and writing) about energy long before global warming was making the front -- or even back -- page of newspapers. Since studying at Harvard and Oxford in the 1960s, he's written dozens of books, and initiated ambitious projects -- cofounding the influential, environment-focused Rocky Mountain Institute; prototyping the ultra-efficient Hypercar -- to focus the world's attention on alternative approaches to energy and transportation.

His critical thinking has driven people around the globe -- from world leaders to the average Joe -- to think differently about energy and its role in some of our biggest problems: climate change, oil dependency, national security, economic health, and depletion of natural resources.

Lovins offers solutions as well. His new book and site, Reinventing Fire, offers actionable solutions for four energy-intensive sectors of the economy: transportation, buildings, industry and electricity. Lovins has always focused on solutions that conserve natural resources while also promoting economic growth; Texas Instruments and Wal-Mart are just two of the mega-corporations he has advised on improving energy efficiency.

What others say

“It was visionary. Every now and then someone wanders into a field and starts talking and has a dramatic impact.” — Cary Bullock, chief executive of GreenFuel Technologies Corp. in The Washington Post

Amory Lovins’ TED talks

More news and ideas from Amory Lovins

Live from TED

Progress for “the blue heart of the planet” and a plan to de-extinct a kayak: A recap of “Planet Dearth,” All-Stars Session 1 at TED2014

March 18, 2014

By Liz Jacobs and Kate Torgovnick Are we on the brink of a resource crisis? All signs point to yes. As the human population grows, the planet is buckling under the pressure of our needs. In this inaugural All-Stars session, 11 classic TED speakers return to the stage to share their deep concern for preserving […]

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Amory Lovins' think tank spins off a new car company

January 19, 2009

Via Green Light: The Rocky Mountain Institute, whose chair and chief scientist is TEDTalks star Amory Lovins, this month spun off a car company, Bright Automotive, that’s focused on making street-legal all-electric cars. From the story on Green Light: Bright Automotive wants to make plug-in hybrids. The cars will go about 30 miles on a […]

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Winning the oil endgame: Amory Lovins

December 11, 2007

Energy guru Amory Lovins lays out his plan for weaning the US off oil and revitalizing the economy in the process. It’s the subject of his book Winning the Oil Endgame, and he makes it sound fairly simple: On one hand, the deadly risks of continued dependency, and on the other, some win-win solutions. (Recorded […]

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