Creating Wealth Out of Nothing — By Amory Lovins, Cofounder, Chief Scientist, and Chairman Emeritus of Rocky Mountain Institute Three guesses: is this article about a new, cheaper renewable technology? a cheaper, safer nuclear fission or fusion technology? A new technology to extract more fossil fuel at lower cost? None of the above. It’s about neither…

News From Around the Institute — COOLING PEOPLE WITHOUT WARMING THE PLANET The Global Cooling Prize is an international competition that calls on innovators to develop a breakthrough residential cooling technology that will provide people around the world access to cooling without warming the planet. The competition was launched in November 2018 by RMI, Mission Innovation, and the Government of India. In…

What began as a memorial to one young person is touching the lives of many — and changing the world — By Kelly Vaughn, Marketing Director for Development at Rocky Mountain Institute and Laurie Stone, Senior Writer/Editor at Rocky Mountain Institute This past April, the Rocky Mountain Institute community mourned the loss of longtime friend, supporter, and partner, Bud Konheim (pictured left). Bud, who was the chief executive officer of Nicole…

Communities around the world are taking steps to improve their resilience against extreme weather events — By Kelly Vaughn, Marketing Director for Development at Rocky Mountain Institute At dusk on July 3, 2018, my five-year-old daughter, my husband, and I watched as a wall of flames rose in the place of the sun and advanced ominously over a hill within view of our home in Basalt…

Young social activists and student and nonprofit leaders are helping to accelerate the energy transition from the ground up — By Laurie Stone, Senior Writer/Editor at Rocky Mountain Institute. In the face of growing climate change and what is seen by many as insufficient concrete action, young people all over the world are stepping up to take a stand and make a difference. Hundreds of thousands of elementary, middle, and…

Nearly 200 countries signed the Paris Climate Agreement. RMI is helping the global financial system underwrite their climate actions — By David Labrador, Senior Writer/Editor at Rocky Mountain Institute. In total, 197 countries made commitments in the Paris Agreement to contribute to the fight against climate change, and now it’s all got to be paid for. Suddenly, the whole globe is in the market for clean energy and energy efficiency…

RMI is showing the world how working with hundreds of buildings at once has sustainability impacts greater than the sum of their parts — By David Labrador, Senior Writer/Editor at Rocky Mountain Institute. Rocky Mountain Institute wants to coordinate your entire neighborhood to save you money, and save the climate. For years we built or renovated single buildings — like New York’s iconic Empire State Building — to show how energy efficiency improvements can…

How RMI’s cofounder effects change and inspires energy change-makers around the world — By Ryan Laemel, Manager in Rocky Mountain Institute’s India Program. As the wheels kiss the tarmac good-bye, Aspen, Colorado’s snow-capped mountains come into view. I can see Amory Lovins, RMI’s cofounder and chief scientist, in the front row of our tiny plane, resting his arms at his sides after the…

An interview with RMI Managing Director Lena Hansen — By Laurie Stone, Senior Writer/Editor at Rocky Mountain Institute. Lena Hansen started at Rocky Mountain Institute as an intern and is now the managing director of RMI’s China Program, based in Beijing. She leads a team of 20 who advise and support China’s energy transition in the areas of power…