[Paleopsych] Energy Shift: A Partial Overview of Possibilities

[Steve Hovland]

Transport:
	Air:  	
		Shift to lighter-than-air craft
		Use of high-end computing for more flexible and efficient schedules

	Ground freight:
		Re-emphasis on trains.
		Micro-factories to produce goods closer to the point of use
		Advanced scheduling systems to reduce movement of empty vehicles

	Personal:
		Hybrid vehicles
		Biodiesel vehicles
		Tiny cars like you see in Europe
		Jitney systems
		Reconfigured bus systems
		New light rail systems
		Intercity rail renewal- bullet trains to replace aircraft
		Living closer to work to reduce need for commuting
		Increase in tele-commuting
		Electric-motor-assisted bicycles, tricycles etc
		Mental health initiatives to reduce therapeutic shopping

	Water transport:
		Wind powered or wind-assisted freight and passenger ships- you can
		put a wind turbine or savonius rotor on top to drive the propeller in the water.

Food Production:
	Shift away from grain-fed meat, which mainly increases fat content and kills us by clogging our arteries.
	Replace petroleum-based nitrogen fertilizers with crop rotations that use nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
	Use of ground rock rather than high-processed minerals to provide other plant nutrients.
	At home, replace ornamental plantings and vast expanses of lawn with food gardens.
	Preserve space at the edge of cities for people-food production, and shift to seasonal eating patterns.
	Integrated pest control and toleration of some level of cosmetic damage.
	Shift away from simple-minded emphasis on increasing output per acre, toward emphasis on ROI based
		on many factors.

Building Operation:
	Super-insulation.
	Passive and active solar heating and cooling.
	Re-emphasize use of natural light in building design.
	Turning off many of those lights you see when you drive around late at night- signs etc.

Chemical Feedstocks:
	Jojoba oil.
	Cottonseed oil.
	Flaxseed oil.
	Soybean oil.
	Corn oil.
	Lignin from wood.

A huge opportunity, or a huge catastrophe, lies ahead.

Steve Hovland
www.stevehovland.net