One of the world’s most well-known advocates for energy efficiency, Amory Lovins, chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado, received the Volvo Environment Prize Thursday, Nov. 1, at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.
The prize, worth $235,390, was awarded by an independent foundation, and the selection committee is comprised of internationally recognized scientists and researchers in the fields of economics and environmental studies.
For more than 30 years, Lovins has advocated a more efficient use of energy rather than increasing the production of it. Sufficient energy exists for everyone to live and move about comfortably, provided that wasteful energy practices are eliminated, he says. Together with his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Institute, Lovins has published numerous books and reports on energy efficiency.
The scientists also have been involved in practical developments. In the beginning of the 1990s, Lovins and his team developed an ultralight, efficient concept automobile, the “hypercar.” They also have started working on energy efficiency in trucks.
