Rocky Mountain Institute, China eye energy efficiency - Aspen Times | To combat that trend, the Rocky Mountain Institute has teamed up with Beijing-based Energy Research Institute for a two-year study that will look at China's energy plan between now and 2050. "China is very much looking for solutions right now," said Jon Creyts, director of the study, "Reinventing Fire: China," which began in June. "There's a tremendous amount of pressure publicly on how they're going to manage resource consumption and environmental impacts." According to Amory Lovins, the study's chief scientist, China is now improving energy efficiency by 4 or 5 percent a year, while the U.S. is improving 1 or 2 percent a year. "When you're growing as fast as their economy is, it's much easier to build things right rather than fix things later as we have to do," said Lovins, who will discuss the study with Creyts at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Hotel Jerome. Collaborating with RMI is an advisory board in China, which will include several co-authors of China's 13th Five Year Plan, an outline of the country's social and economic development initiatives.