RMI (energy organization)

Last updated
RMI
RMI-logo.png
MottoEnergy. Transformed.
Established1982
Chief Executive OfficerJohn Creyts [1]
BudgetRevenue: $124,668,000
Expenses: $73,700,000
(FYE June 2021) [2]
Address22830 Two Rivers Road
Basalt, CO 81621
Location
Basalt, Colorado, United States
Coordinates 39°18′30″N106°58′56″W / 39.30833°N 106.98222°W / 39.30833; -106.98222
Website rmi.org

The Rocky Mountain Institute, commonly abbreviated to RMI, is an organization in the United States co-founded by Amory Lovins [3] dedicated to research, publication, consulting, and lecturing in the field of sustainability, with a focus on profitable innovations for energy and resource efficiency. RMI was established in 1982 [4] and has grown into a broad-based institution with over 600 staff and an annual budget of $120+ million. RMI's work is independent and non-adversarial, with an emphasis on market-based solutions.

Contents

The institute, which includes the Carbon War Room (which merged with RMI in December 2014), operates many global programs.

RMI is headquartered in Basalt, Colorado, and also maintains offices in Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Oakland, California; and Beijing, China.

History

By 1978, experimental physicist Amory Lovins had published many books, consulted widely, and was active in energy affairs in some fifteen countries as a synthesist and lobbyist. Lovins is the leading proponent of the soft energy path.

Later in 1979, Lovins married L. Hunter Sheldon, a lawyer, forester, and social scientist. Hunter received her undergraduate degree in sociology and political studies from Pitzer College, and her J.D. from Loyola Marymount's School of Law. In 1982, Amory and Hunter founded Rocky Mountain Institute, based in Colorado. Together with a group of colleagues, the Lovinses fostered efficient resource use and policy development that they believed would promote global security. RMI ultimately grew into an organization with a staff of around fifty. By the mid-1980s, the Lovinses were featured on major network TV programs, such as 60 Minutes .

The Lovins described the "hard energy path" as involving inefficient liquid-fuel automotive transport, as well as giant centralized electricity-generating facilities, often burning fossil fuels such as coal or petroleum, or harnessing a fission reaction, greatly complicated by electricity wastage and loss. The "soft energy path" which they wholly preferred involves efficient use of energy, diversity of energy production methods (and matched in scale and quality to end uses), and special reliance on "soft technologies" (alternative technology) such as solar, wind, biofuels, and geothermal. According to the institute, large-scale electricity production facilities had an important place, but it was a place that they were already filling in the middle 1970s; in general, more would not be needed. In a 1989 speech, Amory Lovins introduced the related concept of Negawatt power, in which creating a market for trading increased efficiency could supply additional electrical energy to consumers without increasing generation capacity—such as building more power plants.

In recent years, RMI has convened a team of designers and engineers to develop a super-efficient prototype automobile, which they have dubbed the Hypercar.

In December 2014, RMI merged with Carbon War Room, an organization with similar goals but a different approach. [5] In June 2017, RMI merged with WattTime, [6] [7] an organization providing real-time power plant data to consumer devices for automatic dispatchable power consumption. [8] [9] RMI, in 2021, launched [10] Canary Media, a nonprofit newsroom covering the clean energy transition.

Programs

RMI operates programs in many countries: [11]

Electric vehicles

In January 2008, led by John E. Waters, Bright Automotive launched from RMI with the goal of building on the work of a consortium of organizations, including Alcoa, Google.org, Johnson Controls and the Turner Foundation. [12] [13]

Bright Automotive sought with its Bright IDEA project to develop a brand new, 100 miles per US gallon (2.4 L/100 km; 120 mpg‑imp) plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) fleet vehicle. [14] It launched Bright eSolutions [15] to consult on engineering, design, powertrain, battery technology and plug-in hybrid conversion technology services. Bright Automotive secured a conversion contract with the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) to convert military non-combat vehicles into a parallel PHEV for evaluation, including V2G testing. The venture failed. [16]

Advanced Energy, in partnership with RMI, announced a Request for Information (RFI) for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) specific to charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles (EV). [17]

Books

Books published by RMI include:

Recognition

Co-founder Amory Lovins received many awards. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amory Lovins</span> American energy policy analyst

Amory Bloch Lovins is an American writer, physicist, and former chairman/chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has written on energy policy and related areas for four decades, and served on the US National Petroleum Council, an oil industry lobbying group, from 2011 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soft energy path</span> Investment in renewables and efficiency

In 1976, energy policy analyst Amory Lovins coined the term soft energy path to describe an alternative future where energy efficiency and appropriate renewable energy sources steadily replace a centralized energy system based on fossil and nuclear fuels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plug-in hybrid</span> Hybrid vehicle whose battery may be externally charged

A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be replenished by connecting a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engine-powered generator. While PHEVs are predominantly passenger cars, there are also plug-in hybrid variants of sports cars, commercial vehicles, vans, utility trucks, buses, trains, motorcycles, mopeds, military vehicles and boats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies</span>

The FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT) was a national Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program developing more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly highway transportation technologies to enable the United States to use less petroleum. Run by Michael Berube, it had long-term aims to develop "leap-frog" technologies to provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, lower costs, and reduce environmental impacts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Negawatt market</span> Theoretical unit of power savings

Negawatt power is investment to reduce electricity consumption rather than investing to increase supply capacity. In this way investing in negawatts can be considered as an alternative to a new power station and the costs and environmental concerns can be compared.

The Hypercar is a design concept car developed by energy analyst Amory Lovins at the Rocky Mountain Institute. This vehicle would have ultra-light construction with an aerodynamic body using advanced composite materials, low-drag design, and hybrid drive. Designers of the Hypercar claim that it would achieve a three- to five-fold improvement in fuel economy, equal or better performance, safety, amenity, and, compared with today's cars.

Hybrid vehicle drivetrains transmit power to the driving wheels for hybrid vehicles. A hybrid vehicle has multiple forms of motive power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative fuel vehicle</span> Type of vehicle

An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum fuels. The term also refers to any technology powering an engine that does not solely involve petroleum. Because of a combination of factors, such as environmental and health concerns including climate change and air pollution, high oil-prices and the potential for peak oil, development of cleaner alternative fuels and advanced power systems for vehicles has become a high priority for many governments and vehicle manufacturers around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CalCars</span> US Environmental/Climate Change org

CalCars was a charitable, non-profit organization founded in 2002 to promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as a key to addressing oil dependence and global warming both nationally and internationally. It was active until 2010, when the first mass-produced PHEVs arrived. CalCars envisioned millions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, charged by off-peak electricity from renewable energy sources, and with their internal combustion engines powered by low-carbon alternative fuels, as a way to significantly reduce greenhouse gases that come from transportation.

<i>Winning the Oil Endgame</i> 2005 book

Winning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profits, Jobs and Security is a 2005 book by Amory B. Lovins, E. Kyle Datta, Odd-Even Bustnes, Jonathan G. Koomey, and Nathan J. Glasgow, published by the Rocky Mountain Institute. It presents an independent, transdisciplinary analysis of four ways to reduce petroleum dependence in the United States:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of plug-in hybrids</span>

The history of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) spans a little more than a century, but most of the significant commercial developments have taken place after 2002. The revival of interest in this automotive technology together with all-electric cars is due to advances in battery and power management technologies, and concerns about increasingly volatile oil prices and supply disruption, and also the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Between 2003 and 2010 most PHEVs on the roads were conversions of production hybrid electric vehicles, and the most prominent PHEVs were aftermarket conversions of 2004 or later Toyota Prius, which have had plug-in charging and more lead-acid batteries added and their electric-only range extended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RechargeIT</span> Initiative within Google.org

RechargeIT is one of five initiatives within Google.org, the charitable arm of Google, created with the aim to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use, and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles. Google.org's official RechargeIT blog has not been updated since 2008.

<i>Brittle Power</i> Book by Amory and L. Hunter Lovins

Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security is a 1982 book by Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, prepared originally as a Pentagon study and re-released in 2001 following the September 11 attacks. The book argues that the U.S. domestic energy infrastructure is very vulnerable to disruption, whether by accident or malice, often even more so than US technology is vulnerable to disruption of the imported oil supply. According to the authors, a resilient energy system is feasible, costs less, works better, and is favoured in the market, but is rejected by U.S. policy. In the preface to the 2001 edition, Lovins explains that these themes are still very current.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. B. Straubel</span> American businessman

Jeffrey Brian Straubel is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He spent 15 years at Tesla, as chief technical officer until moving to an advisory role in July 2019. In 2023, he was elected to the company's board of directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery electric vehicle</span> Type of electric vehicle

A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, with no secondary source of propulsion. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion. They derive all power from battery packs and thus have no internal combustion engine, fuel cell, or fuel tank. BEVs include – but are not limited to – motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, railcars, watercraft, forklifts, buses, trucks, and cars.

Felix Kramer is an entrepreneur, strategist and writer. After a succession of jobs and projects in the nonprofit sector and an early internet startup, he gained attention after 2002 as the founder of the California Cars Initiative, promoting mass production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Since 2009, he has written broadly on climate change awareness and solutions, and collaborated on or co-founded climate-related projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plug-in electric vehicle</span> Type of vehicle

A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any road vehicle that can utilize an external source of electricity to store electrical energy within its onboard rechargeable battery packs, to power an electric motor and help propelling the wheels. PEV is a subset of electric vehicles, and includes all-electric/battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Sales of the first series production plug-in electric vehicles began in December 2008 with the introduction of the plug-in hybrid BYD F3DM, and then with the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV in July 2009, but global retail sales only gained traction after the introduction of the mass production all-electric Nissan Leaf and the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in December 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plug-in electric vehicles in the United States</span> Overview of plug-in electric vehicles in the US

The adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in the United States is supported by the American federal government, and several states and local governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bright Automotive</span> Defunct American motor vehicle manufacturer

Bright Automotive was a startup company in Anderson, Indiana, working to create a fuel-efficient line of plug-in electric vehicles. The company was started in 2008 with a team of employees from former companies such as Chrysler, Delphi, GM, Mazda, and Toyota. The company designed its first vehicle, the IDEA, a plug-in hybrid electric fleet vehicle designed to reduce fuel costs for corporations that maintain a large commercial fleet. Bright also had a service branch called eSolutions that focused on speeding up the process of car electrification with consulting and conversions. Bright's last CEO, Reuben Munger, stated in early press releases that he wished to see the IDEA in production by 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson Matthey Battery Systems</span> British manufacturing company

Johnson Matthey Battery Systems, part of the Johnson Matthey group and formerly called Axeon, designs and manufactures advanced lithium-ion battery systems for electric vehicles and processes over 70 million cells per year. Headquartered in Dundee, Scotland and with operations in Poland and sales offices in Coventry, England, Johnson Matthey Battery Systems produces batteries for all types of electric vehicles including urban delivery vehicles and high performance sports cars.

References

  1. ↑ "RMI Names New CEO to Gain Momentum on Clean Energy Transition".
  2. ↑ "RMI_Annual Report_FINAL_DIGITAL copy" (PDF). RMI.org. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Inside Amory's Brain".
  4. ↑ "History". Rocky Mountain Institute. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  5. ↑ Trigg, Tali. "Rocky Mountain Institute and Carbon War Room Join Forces". scientificamerican.com. Scientific American . Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Clancy, Heather (23 October 2017). "High aspirations: What's next for Rocky Mountain Institute". GreenBiz. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  7. ↑ Cohen, Deborah L. (30 April 2018). "Does Your Building Know 'WattTime' Is Best for Its Carbon Footprint?". Middle Market Growth. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  8. ↑ "WattTime". Rocky Mountain Institute.
  9. ↑ Roberts, David (7 May 2019). "We'll soon know the exact air pollution from every power plant in the world. That's huge". Vox.
  10. ↑ Geman, Ben (2021-04-06). "Think tank launches climate news outlet powered by former Greentech Media staff". Axios. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  11. ↑ "Our Work". www.rmi.org. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  12. ↑ "Who We Are - Bright Automotive". Archived from the original on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  13. ↑ "Protecting & Restoring the Natural World". Turner Foundation. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  14. ↑ "A new automotive company for a new era in America" (PDF). Bright Automotive. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  15. ↑ "Who We Are". Bright Automotive. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  16. ↑ "Advances by Converter Firms". California Cars Initiative. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Advanced Energy and Rocky Mountain Institute Announce Request for Information on Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment". Pitchengine. 2010-04-29. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  18. ↑ "Who we are". Rocky Mountain Institute. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
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