By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
Let’s all take a moment to give a standing ovation to Amory Lovins, co-founder and chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute. On Sunday, he stood before a group of investors from around the world – who control approximately $8 trillion in assets – and told them it was time to stop investing in fossil fuels because those industries are “on their last legs.”
That’s the news from the Fiduciary Investors Symposium at Stanford University, according to an article on Top1000Funds.com. Lovins not only delivered this hard truth to the investors, but told them they’d be foolish if they didn’t invest in the coming renewable energy revolution. From the article:
The electricity industry is undergoing its biggest transformation in centuries as supply shifts to modern renewables. Renewable energy production hit 1 trillion watts of capacity three years ago, the next trillion watts will be added in just four years, pushing fossil fuels out of the market, Lovins said. He added that fossil fuels were more at risk from competition than regulation.
“In the next 4-5 years, cheaper renewables will offset growth in all fossil fuels, tipping them into decline,” he warned.
But it wasn’t just generic renewable energy Lovins had love for – he had particularly nice things to say about the solar industry. He said the cheaper solar becomes, the more people are buying it – and he pointed to the proliferation of solar not just in the United States but in China as well. He said the world is rapidly reaching a tipping point from which oil, coal and gas will not recover (he also sees buoying trends in the electric vehicle market and foresees a day when the internal combustion engine will be relegated to the ash heap of history).
It’s not that Lovins is saying anything new or particularly radical, at least not from the standpoint of the solar industry. What is important, however, is that he is speaking to the current and future investors in the solar industry. And he’s telling them it’s time to stop clinging to the investments of the past and exhorting them to charge into the brave new future of renewable energy (and specifically, as it turns out, solar).
Money, after all, talks. And if we can get investors with $8 trillion in assets on board with the Solar Century, then the future of this industry is truly as bright as the sun.
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