In 1976
energy policyEnergy policy is the manner in which a given entity has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption...
analyst
Amory LovinsAmory Bloch Lovins is Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. His four decades of work spans and integrates energy policy, resources, security, economy, environment, and development....
coined the term
soft energy path to describe an alternative future where energy efficiency and appropriate
renewable energyRenewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable . In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning...
sources steadily replace a centralized energy system based on fossil and nuclear fuels.
Soft vs Hard
The "soft energy path" assumes that energy is but a means to social ends, and is not an end in itself. Soft energy paths involve efficient use of energy, diversity of energy production methods (matched in scale and quality to end uses), and special reliance on co-generation and "soft energy technologies" such as solar energy, wind energy,
biofuelBiofuel is defined as solid, liquid or gaseous fuel obtained from lifeless or living biological material and is similar to fossil fuels, which are derived from long dead biological material. Also, various plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacturing...
s, geothermal energy, etc.
The "hard energy path" (with which the soft path contrasts) is based on the assumption that the more energy we use the better off we are. It involves inefficient
liquid-fuelLiquid fuels are those combustible or energy-generating molecules that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, usually producing kinetic energy; they also must take the shape of their container...
automotive transport, as well as giant, centralized electricity-generating facilities, often burning fossil fuels (e.g.,
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
or
petroleumPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
) or harnessing
nuclear powerNuclear power is power produced from controlled nuclear reactions. Commercial plants in use to date use nuclear fission reactions....
. The hard path is not simply a matter of energy sources, though, because it is greatly augmented and complicated by wastage and loss of electricity and other common, directly usable forms of energy.
Lovins explained that the most profound difference between the soft and hard paths -- the difference that ultimately distinguishes them -- is their different socio-political impact. Both paths entail social change, "but the kinds of social change for a hard path are apt to be less pleasant, less plausible, less compatible with social diversity and freedom of choice, and less consistent with traditional values than are the social changes which could make a soft path work".
Soft energy technologies
Soft energy technologies (appropriate renewables) have five defining characteristics. They (1) rely on
renewable energyRenewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable . In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning...
resources, (2) are diverse and designed for maximum effectiveness in particular circumstances, (3) are flexible and relatively simple to understand, (4) are matched to end-use needs in terms of scale, and (5) are matched to end-use needs in terms of quality.
Residential solar energy technologies are prime examples of soft energy technologies and rapid deployment of simple, energy conserving, residential solar energy technologies is fundamental to a soft energy strategy.
Active residential solar technologies use special devices to collect and convert the sun's rays to useful energy and are located near the users they supply.
Passive residential solar technologies involve the natural transfer (by radiation, convection and conduction) of solar energy without the use of mechanical devices.
Lovins argued that besides environmental benefits, global political stresses might be reduced by Western nations committing to the soft energy path. In general, soft path impacts are seen to be more "gentle, pleasant and manageable" than hard path impacts. These impacts range from the individual and household level to those affecting the very fabric of society at the national and international level.
Implementation
Lovins recognised that major energy decisions are always implemented gradually and incrementally, and that major shifts take decades. A chief element of the soft path strategy is to avoid major commitments to inflexible infrastructure that locks us into particular supply patterns for decades.
The following transitional strategy to a soft energy path has been proposed:
- Double the efficiency of oil utilization, mainly through improved vehicle design (the development of improved hybrid cars, ultralight designs, and streamlined large transport vehicles).
- Apply creative business models which focus on certain advanced technologies and lightweight materials.
- Substitute 25% of U.S. oil needs via a major domestic biofuels industry, which could result in an economic boost for the rural regions that would supply the plant material for biofuels.
- Make natural gas again abundant and affordable through wider utilization of well-established efficiency techniques.
Lovins argues that the barriers to soft energy paths are not technical, nor in any fundamental sense economic. He suggests that are mainly institutional, and relate to obsolete building codes, an innovation-resistant building industry, promotional utility rate structures, inapproriate tax and mortgage policies, imperfect access to capital markets and fragmentation of government responsibilities.
Lovins wrote in 1977 that "a largely or wholly solar economy can be constructed in the United States with straightforward soft technologies that are now demonstrated and now economic or nearly economic".
The soft energy path is already coming to pass. As of 2007, America's total energy consumption is actually running lower than predicted in Lovin's 1976 soft path scenario. Soft technologies were delayed by official hinderances, but improved energy efficiency has more than made up the difference.
See also
- Action on climate change
The issue of global warming is becoming a central focus of the Green movement. As illustrated by the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize being jointly awarded to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the issue is building an increasing level of mainstream interest. Around the world, there...
- Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat...
- Energy demand management
Energy demand management, also known as demand side management , entails actions that influence the quantity or patterns of use of energy consumed by end users, such as actions targeting reduction of peak demand during periods when energy-supply systems are constrained...
- Energy: world resources and consumption
- National Energy Conservation Policy Act
The National Energy Conservation Policy Act of 1978 is a United States statute which was enacted as part of the National Energy Act....
- Negawatt Power
Negawatt power is the idea of creating incentives to reduce demand for electricity to ease the load at peak times or alleviate the need to build more generation plants...
- New Urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s and continues to reform many aspects of real estate development and urban planning....
- Nuclear energy policy
Nuclear energy policy is a national and international policy concerning some or all aspects of nuclear energy, such as mining for nuclear fuel, extraction and processing of nuclear fuel from the ore, generating electricity by nuclear power, enriching and storing spent nuclear fuel and nuclear fuel...
- Renewable energy policy
Renewable energy policy is the principal driver of the growth in renewable energy use. Renewable energy policy targets exist in some 73 countries around the world, and public policies to promote renewable energy use have become more common in recent years. At least 64 countries have some type of...
- Renewable energy industry
The present-day renewable-energy industry is an energy industry focusing on new and appropriate renewable energy technologies, which excludes large-scale hydro-electricity. Investors worldwide have paid much greater attention to this emerging renewable energy industry in recent years...
- Self-sufficient homes
- Tom Bender
Tom Bender began to make his mark in the early 1970s as an architect, author, and strategic planner. He has since been visible also as a writer in the emerging field of green economics...
External links