 | Review of What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire | The Oil Drum | Avoiding Harmful Solutions (to Our Climate and Energy Problems) |  |
| The Bullroarer - Friday 26 October 2007 | TOD: Australia/New Zealand | The Bullroarer - Monday 29 October 2007 | |
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Great Work David
Two questions:
1. What do you think about hot rock electricity? This looks to be a big potential asset.
2. Do you think that decentralisation and a return to the bush to re-inflate viable country towns that have been slowly wasting away for years will be a predicable reponse to the evolving crisis?
Those towns with rail access, viable local food production and a critical mass of population should become attractive alternatives to big cities.
In cooperation with Paul Roth of peakoilmedicine I have been trying to model Australian health service delivery in the age of energy descent. Declining personal mobility and resource constraints could change the ground rules of health service delivery. If the relocalisation of healthcare becomes an issue, planning for it will require an understanding of potential population shifts. At the moment it's not clear. Do you think there is a chance that disadvantaged rural people might flock to the cities as they have in the shanty town mega slums of Africa and South America? (This would seem to be unlikely.) Or will it be 'Blue Hills', 'Bellbird', 'Dad and Dave' and 'A Country Practice' revisited as enthusiastic and hopeful young families move back to the bush? Or will things not change very much at all? What do you reckon?
Thanks for all your efforts
Jim Barson
Hot rock power has a lot of potential, but is still very experimental.
Look for a post on the subject here later in the week...
Hi Jim,
I'm afraid that I don't express opinions if I feel that I am not qualified, so I am only going to offer guarded comments:
1. Hot Rocks are promising. I hope they work. Early experiments have run into technical hitches, but then early experiments always do.
2. I think that the rural population will probably increase as a consequence of more things being done locally, but this is hardly more than a guess. If we really wanted to flesh this out, I think we would need to sit a few smart people down in a room and let them bat thoughts around.