Jeremy Leggett

Infobox Person
name= Jeremy Leggett


caption= Leggett at public discussion and book signing, August 2007
birth_date=1954
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dead=
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occupation = Social entrepreneur, Author.
education = Doctor of Philosophy in Earth sciences from Oxford University

Jeremy Leggett, a geologist by training, began his career as a consultant for the oil industry, having received funding from the Royal School of Mines as well as oil companies BP and Shell [cite web |url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jeremy_leggett/profile.html |title=Jeremy Leggett |accessdate=2008-07-01 |format= |work=The Guardian ] ,but later became an environmental campaigner for Greenpeace, before evolving into a social entrepreneur and author.

He has written several books including (Portobello, 2005: also published in the US as The Empty Tank) and (Penguin,1999). These books examined the issues of oil depletion and global warming.

He spent the 1980s in the service of Big Oil, as a geologist and faculty member of the Royal School of Mines in London, and the 1990s as top campaigner for Greenpeace International. [cite web |url=http://scitizen.com/screens/blogPage/viewBlog/sw_viewBlog.php?idTheme=14&idContribution=808 |title=Jeremy Leggett: Peak Oil Meets Climate Change |accessdate=2008-07-01 |format= |work= ] Jeremy Leggett later became the founder and is currently executive chairman of Solarcentury the UK’s largest independent solar electric company. Leggett is one of a number of entrepreneurs who have started a renewable energy business. Other successful self-starters in the sector include Shi Zhengrong, Tom Dinwoodie and Tom Lerner.

He also serves as a founding director of the world's first private equity fund for renewable energy. From 2002 to 2006, Leggett was a member of the UK Government Renewables advisory board. He was a campaigner on climate change for Greenpeace International from 1989 to 1996. He was the recipient of the President's Award of the Geological Society, and in 1987 the Geological Society's Lyell Fund.

In 2007, Leggett stated that he believes global oil production would peak in 2008, give or take 2 years. He has called for a mass withdrawal from fossil fuels and advocates that coal should be left in the ground. [ [http://transitionculture.org/?p=418 Jeremy Leggett Intertwines Peak Oil and Climate Change] . Presentation at the ASPO-5 Peak Oil and Gas Conference. 24 August 2004. Retrieved on 6 June 2007.] Leggett has been critical of the lack of reporting by the British mainstream media on the economic imperatives of climate change abatement. [cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/10/renewableenergy.oil |title=We cannot afford not to invest in renewables |date=2008-07-10 |accessdate=2008-07-13 |format= |work=The Guardian ] Leggett is known for his support of microgeneration technology in the fight to abate global warming.

ee also

*Jean Laherrère
*Chris Skrebowski

References

External links

* [http://www.solarcentury.co.uk/news/jeremy_leggett_s_blog/ Jeremy Leggett's blog]