Ron Swenson

Solar energy engineer and entrepreneur

He was born in 1942 in California in a fertile region later to be known as Silicon Valley, where he enjoyed rural pleasures. He went to Stanford University in 1960 to study engineering. In 1966 he attended a lecture on the depletion of oil given by a visiting professor, which made a deep impression. On leaving university he got a job building student housing, and after the first oil shock turned attention to designing energy-efficient housing, taking a keen interest in solar energy. In 1994, he started an important website, www.hubbertpeak.com, and went on to publish articles in the Solar Today journal as well as giving presentations on Peak Oil. He has also played an important role in developing ASPO-USA.

I have always looked for ways of doing what isn’t getting done, to do what others can’t or won’t do. If someone else has it covered, I’m moving on.