human psychology being what it is, I believe you're right. I may long for refrigeration, A/C, individual transport, lighting, but to those who know none of that, they don't miss it or even comprehend the benefits. Humans adapt to their conditions, as easy or harsh as they might be.

Having said that, I'd hope not to live in a world where energy is so dear as to require those sacrifices. it would not be a comfortable world. What I want and what will occur may be two completely different things.

*Lifts glass of COLD beer*
Here's to life in a brave new world.

I wonder which food preservation system uses less energy. For canning you first must cook the food to high enough temperature to kill any microbes and turn off any biochemical reactions which cause over ripening. For some foods brine or pickling may also be used. This heat is lost during storage and the food could be stored for several years with only enough energy to prevent freezing needed. Then before eating it is cooked a second time to be part of a hot meal.
Refrigeration and freezing is another preservation option. This usually involves flash freezing with the use of liquid nitrogen and the energy cost of liquifying, storing, and transporting the liquid nitrogen. Sometimes it involves just taking fresh cuts of meat and putting them in a simple freezer. Refrigeration uses very little energy compared to the benefits it provides to the world. It would not take much in the way of PVs to keep even a large freezer operating. The amount needed is proportional to its surface area but the amount kept frozen is proportional to its volume. Very large freezer are much more efficient than small ones. They have been proposed as a way to store wind energy since they can be made even colder during high wind power and allowed to warm back up during calm periods as long as the temperature stays below freezing.
Some foods like lettuce and eggs can not be canned or frozen without serious changes in their characteristics. Some foods like potatoes and onions can stay good enough for months in a root cellar. Grains need to be dried and will last for many years if kept dry and protected from pests. Drying though requires an energy input in order to evaporate its water content which is roughly 1,000,000 btus per ton at 50% moisture content.
I don't see these food preservation methods going away ever. They provide an enormous benefit for their energy buck. What may become very expensive are the highly processed foods found on many supermarket shelves. Hamburger Helper and breakfast cereals may become luxury items. I see potato chips becoming the luxury food it originally was.

Yartrebo,
You have made a good point about the weakness of jeffvail's argument about in-elastic demand. If gasoline prices continue to rise as they surely must do post peakoil, then some very big structural changes are going to occur in US gasoline consumption ( and heating oil use). The issue is how much time the world will have; two years is not going to be long enough, 10-12 years would be adequate if the US and other governments provide more leadership that just proposing to drill more of the continental shelf. The 20% renewable energy plans by 2020 or 2030 are good starting points for the US, another is a big rise in gasoline taxes or accelerating the introduction and higher CAFE standards, sooner than 2015.
I don't see why people have to give up personnel transportation, refrigeration or air-conditioning, if much more efficient cars, and appliances are used( or legislated).