Yeah, a lot of people are really still very excited about electric vehicles without remembering that all we do is adding more vehicles and more transfer (and therefore loss) of the energy needed to run them, and that no amount of renewables can really keep pace with our idiotic obsession of traveling thousands of kilometers, often to get away from places that are ugly because we filled them with roads and traffic.
In a solarpunk future we might first want to figure out which comforts we can easily create at home with renewable resources. That squishy pillow you ordered from China and want to have delivered by Solar High Speed Rail in some utopian future? Did you know there’s probably at least 10 plant species growing in your region (possible considered weeds and/or invasives) that would make excellent pillow material? So bring back crafts, because things should be beautiful and long-lasting, not cheap and convenient. A solar- or wind- or water-powered machine to run the mill that makes local fluffy textiles? Of course, to do all the work that’s dangerous or tedious, why not?
Yeah, a lot of people are really still very excited about electric vehicles without remembering that all we do is adding more vehicles and more transfer (and therefore loss) of the energy needed to run them, and that no amount of renewables can really keep pace with our idiotic obsession of traveling thousands of kilometers, often to get away from places that are ugly because we filled them with roads and traffic.
In a solarpunk future we might first want to figure out which comforts we can easily create at home with renewable resources. That squishy pillow you ordered from China and want to have delivered by Solar High Speed Rail in some utopian future? Did you know there’s probably at least 10 plant species growing in your region (possible considered weeds and/or invasives) that would make excellent pillow material? So bring back crafts, because things should be beautiful and long-lasting, not cheap and convenient. A solar- or wind- or water-powered machine to run the mill that makes local fluffy textiles? Of course, to do all the work that’s dangerous or tedious, why not?