WorldChanging interviews Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, discussing the 2,000 watt lifestyle proposed by the Swiss and his recent letter to Secretary Steven Chu.
"Julia Levitt: What do you think is the least amount of energy that could be used to deliver a comfortable American lifestyle? For example, is the 2,000-watt society proposed by the Swiss Council of the Federal Institute of Technology a realistic projection?
Amory Lovins: It is very realistic. The Swiss work on the 2000-watt Society is excellent. I actually think that, with integrated design and even newer technologies, 1,000 watts is probably realistic -- and it may even be cheaper. We [at RMI] haven't developed that in as much detail yet as they've developed their 2,000-watt scenario, so I'm just giving you my impression from looking at the numbers, but I think it'll be closer to 1,000 than to 2,000 watts. That's counting, of course, all forms of energy for all purposes.
JL: What would that society look like?
AL: It can look like whatever you want. Because so much can be done with just technical efficiency, there's a great deal of flexibility -- in how and where people live, what houses look like, how we get around, what our settlement patterns are."
FULL STORY: Worldchanging Interview: Amory Lovins
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