Rocky Mountain Institute

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  What Will It Take to Get EVs on the Road (Really)

  Electric cars have the potential to improve our energy system, resuscitate the automobile industry, and dramatically reduce America's oil use.

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  Nuclear Power: Climate Fix or Folly?

  Image Source: Wikimedia Commons Can nuclear-generated electricity lead us off fossil fuels? After years of sitting in the energy dustbin, nuclear power is enjoying a renaissance. Countries such as France, Japan and China are furiously building nuclear

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  "Payback" Dilemma Holds Back Campus Climate Initiatives

  Rocky Mountain Institute is in the final stages of developing "Accelerating Campus Climate Initiatives," an on-line book that will describe the many

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  The Day After Zipcar Makes a Profit — Part II

  The day after ZipCar turns a profit will find us asking some big questions about the potential split between smart growth, the next generation of

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  The Day After ZipCar Makes a Profit - Part I

  In the year 1 A.Z.P. (After Zipcar Profits) the biggest counterpoint against proponents of car sharing will dissipate

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  Towards Carbon-Neutral College Campuses

  "Can you name a college that was not founded to exist into perpetuity?" David Shi, President of Furman University, asks the room

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  Rail Versus Trucking: Who's The Greenest Freight Carrier?

  Our last two posts on improving trucking efficiency (see here and here) received quite a bit of push-back from the TreeHugger audience. While some comments were tempered, others were more blunt, "There is nothing green about trucks," you said. And,

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  14 Things You Probably Never Considered About Making Trucks More Efficient

  Denver, CO, RMI's Transformational Trucking Charrette: After three days' discussion by trucking suppliers, OEMs, drivers, and industry experts, the technological potential for drastic trucking efficiency gains—as well as the complexity of the barriers

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  17 Federal Policy Initiatives Could Save 50 Percent Of U.S. GHG emissions In 10 years

  With all the hype surrounding the recently unveiled American Clean Energy and Security Act, it seems appropriate to reflect upon the policy framework Amory Lovins and his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Institute put together a few months ago.

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  Transformational Trucking, How The Trucking Industry Can Avoid The Automotive Industry's Fate

  The volatility of fuel costs and the reeling economy have taken their toll on the long-haul, heavy-duty trucking industry, though their tribulations have received less attention than those of the auto sector.

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  Ready, Set, Go! Paving the Way for Plug-In Vehicles

  President Obama has set the goal of adding one million plug-in vehicles to the country's fleet by 2015. And while the recently passed stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, contained some very generous incentives

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  Quantifying Energy Efficiency's Potential In Developed And Developing Countries

  Policy makers and business owners alike have promoted efficiency investments as a way to generate high returns while saving energy.

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  Economic Stimulus! Sometimes What We're Looking For is Right Under Our Nose.

  By Elaine Gallagher Adams, RMI

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  Green Room With A View: Denali's Cutting-edge, Off-Grid Visitors Center

  Sixty miles down a dirt road in the Alaskan Wilderness, sits a cutting-edge green building nestled in the mountains.

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  Drawing The Water And Energy Connection

  In the necessary flurry to reduce carbon emissions, water issues are arguably taking a back seat. Scarcity and quality of water present cause for concern, but saving water doesn't seem to excite like saving energy does.

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  Plug-In Hybrids Address The OTHER Energy Security Issue: The Grid

  In early 1981, Salvadoran Civil War guerillas bombed a power plant and blacked out San Salvador. A few months later, guerillas targeted a dam that provided half of El Salvador's electricity. By November, a third of this small, Central American nation

• Climate Strategy: Every Dollar Counts

  While some believe we shouldn't act at all because the price will be too high, other research suggests inaction would be far more costly. But both sides of this debate are wrong if we choose the best buys first, because then the cost of climate

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  Gustav Highlights Energy Vulnerabilities

  Though less fierce than expected, Hurricane Gustav highlighted once again the vulnerabilities presented by our centralized energy systems. Within the Gulf of Mexico, 98 percent of the oil and natural gas production facilities were shut down, ahead of