Bob Taylor is a senior advisor to RAP and other groups working on issues relating to energy or China, where he travels at least once every year. As president of Energy Pathways, LLC, in Maryland, his recent work spans topics from energy economics to the link between energy and environment, primarily focusing on energy efficiency policy, financing, programs, and projects in the United States, China, and other countries. He has been working with the RAP China team since 2011.
Mr. Taylor has been active in the field of energy development and use for nearly 40 years, and his engagement with energy in China dates back to 1982. Prior to establishing his consultancy, he worked as a World Bank energy economist from 1982 to 2009. Since 2009, he has advised nonprofit groups and international institutions, in particular, on a vast spectrum of energy efficiency topics, including program and project development, design and implementation, company business models, industrial efficiency promotion and management, financing, energy efficiency and demand response related to electric power utilities, resource acquisition (especially in the United States), as well as power sector reform and many other aspects of energy development in China.
Mr. Taylor retired from World Bank service as energy sector leader for East Asia and the Pacific. His work encompassed both analytical efforts and design and implementation of many investment projects, including extensive work on energy statistics, energy planning, mitigation of climate change and other environmental impacts of energy development, renewable energy development, and leadership in energy efficiency. Mr. Taylor led the first large-scale review of China’s greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation options during 1993 and 1994, together with the Chinese government. Based on the results of this review, he then led the development of a stream of clean-energy investment operations, including design and management of the World Bank’s portfolio of energy efficiency projects from 1995 to 2009. He is perhaps best known in China for his assistance in the development of the country’s energy performance contracting industry.
Mr. Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Grinnell College and a master’s in Asian studies from the University of Michigan. He was introduced to the energy field working with his father, Theodore B. Taylor, a prominent physicist.
