physics

Reinventing Fire

Reinventing Fire is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Reinventing Fire rather than just read about it. In short: Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era is a 2011 book, by Amory B. Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute, that explores converting the United States to almost total reliance on renewable energy sources, such as solar energy and wind power.

Key takeaways

Reinventing Fire belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Reinventing Fire to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Reinventing Fire from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era is a 2011 book, by Amory B. Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute, that explores converting the United States to almost total reliance on renewable energy sources, such as solar energy and wind power. Lovins says that renewable energy is already cheaper than fossil fuels and his analysis predicts further reductions in renewable energy prices. Reinventing Fire was launched at the Washington National Geographic Society, in October 2011. Bill Clinton says the book is a “wise, detailed and comprehensive blueprint.” The book has forewords by Marvin Odum, from Shell Oil, and John W. Rowe, CEO of Exelon. The first paragraph of the preface says:

Imagine fuel without fear. No climate change. No oil spills, dead coal miners, dirty air, devastated lands, lost wildlife. No energy poverty. No oil-fed wars, tyrannies, or terrorists. Nothing to run out. Nothing to cut off. Nothing to worry about. Just energy abundance, benign and affordable, for all, for ever.

Fen Montaigne in The Guardian has said that the book is impressive in both its scope and detail:

Lovins discusses everything from how to redesign heavy trucks to make them more fuel efficient to ways to change factory pipes to conserve energy — the book lays out a plan for the U.S. to achieve the following by 2050: cars completely powered by hydrogen fuel cells, electricity, and biofuels; 84 percent of trucks and airplanes running on biomass fuels; 80 percent of the nation's electricity produced by renewable power; $5 trillion in savings; and an economy that has grown by 158 percent.

By combining reduced energy use with energy efficiency gains, Lovins says that there will be a $5 trillion saving over the next 40 years and a faster-growing economy. This can all be done, the book jacket says, without "new federal taxes, subsidies, mandates, or laws. The policy innovations needed to unlock and speed it need no act of Congress." The profitable commercialization of existing energy-saving technologies, through market forces, can be led by business.

See also Our Choice Climate Capitalism Clean Tech Nation Renewable energy commercialization List of books about renewable energy

References

External links Reinventing Fire at Google Books What is Reinventing Fire?

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Reinventing Fire

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Reinventing Fire claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Reinventing Fire before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Reinventing Fire ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Reinventing Fire

In research: Reinventing Fire appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Reinventing Fire in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Reinventing Fire is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 non-fiction books, Books about energy issues, Books by Amory Lovins, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Reinventing Fire outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Reinventing Fire in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Reinventing Fire means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Reinventing Fire out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reinventing Fire in simple terms?

Why does Reinventing Fire matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Reinventing Fire?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Reinventing Fire.