May 1978 RAIN Page 21 SOFT PATHERS U_NITE ! We've nothing to lose but our chainsaws Soft energy paths are now being studied in more than a dozen countries, a similar number of subnational regions, and several supranational jurisdictions. Such paths combine, without coercion, increased end-use efficiency, rapid introduction of· diverse, renewable energy sources matched in scale and quality to end-use needs and, when appropriate, transitional fossil •fuel technologies. To make these studies more efficient, . accessible and sophisticated, Friends of .the Earth Foundation, . under a grant from the Max and Anna Levinson Foundation, has established the International Project for Soft Energy Paths (IPSEP). Its headquarters, in the DOE office, are at 124 Spear St., San Francisco, California 94105, phone 415/ 495-5210. IPSEP is an ad hoc, non-profit educational project intended initially to run for one year from January 1978. It has a fourperson secretariat directed by economist Jim Harding and -including physicist Amory Lovins. IPSEP has two functions. It helps technical groups and individuals doing soft path studies by acting as a clearinghouse providing ,access to technical and economic data, analytic methods and institutional concepts. Second, IPSEP tries to inj_ect the results of others' studies quickJy and effectively into the policy process by circulating annotated summaries of key findings to the public, public interest groups, opinion leaders and policy-makers throughout ·the world. IPSEP emphasizes clarity, speed, relevance, accuracy, high technical quality and objectivity in its publication Soft Energy Notes. IPSEP materials. are mailed sp_oradically in looseleaf form, free·to individuals and non-profit groups engaged i_n soft path work and at a nominal charge to others.·Much distribution is THE AMORY B. LOVINS . . BUTrE~KNIFE through national or regional networks rather than direct. Recipients are urged to insure that infonhation flows both ways so that other recipients can be informed as widely and. quickly as possible. Among the te'chnical papers useful to soft pathers a.nd other energy networkers in the charter issue of Soft Energy Notes were -those headlined as follows: • Solar Space & Water Heating in Canada: Neighborhood Systems Competitive with Oil Heating in Some Cities • U.S. Non-Nuclear Aid: ODC Report/Rural Electrication/Tanzanian Cost Comparisons • Danes Design Efficient Household Appliances: Savings of ~3, 53 and 70 percent A!e Possible • Pr9blems and Prospects of Indian Biogas: Villagescale Needed, Cheaper than Keros·ene or Electricity • UK Report Suggests_Half the Energy Is Lost in Industrial Motors • •silicon Photovoltaics Continue to Fall in Price: Less than $5 a Watt in Latest U.S. Purchase • Lovins Re-examines the Nature of the ECE Energy Problem See what I mean? ... chockfull of munchies for us softhead~d techn~_twits. Okay, Jim, I'm sending you copies of my grooviest wind energy stuff right now. What have you, dear reader, that you'd like to share? Remember, using nuclear fission at millions of degrees F. to generate electricity to he~l.t our homes to 65°F. is the thermodynamic equivalent of cutting butter with a chainsaw. Who needs it? -Lee Johnson Cold butter is tough cutting. ; Friends of the Earth knows that. That's why they have decided to come out with this attractive "al- · ternatjve" to conventional plated flat silver. You'll ·be the envy of all your dinner gues~. from Not Man Apart
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