|
Where we are is a real problem right now. Before the time of
Oil people lived rurally in the land. There were cities but
they tended to only hold a few thousand people because they
could not get any larger. They were limited by the size of
the agricultural land around them and how far a horse and
cart could travel to bring perishable foodstuffs to the city
markets. Transport was expensive and uncomfortable. Energy
was scarce and the available land was required for the
growing all forms of bio-mass - firewood and food - or
construction materials. If the population exceed this
natural "carrying capacity" of the land then the population
simply lived in poverty and ceased to grow. A balance was
kept. The sun could only bring each person so much energy in
a day and only so much of that energy could be captured in
the bio-mass to support hungry mouths.
So? What to do? Start digging up buried sunshine. Once you
start pumping out the historical revenues your population
goes into solar debt. The sun cannot replenish that energy
at the rate you are using it up. However, prior to human
populations there was no intelligent life to dig it up.
So it stayed in the ground for millions of years. Like money
in the bank. You can earn money and spend money but if you
need more money, one day, you go to the bank to draw on your
savings. You can only do this so many time before you have
to start saving again and building up your savings. Or you
borrow from someone else. Sadly for us the bank was VERY
full so we have been drawing down this credit for a VERY
long time. We thought it was a bottomless pit of energy free
for us to exploit. In reality we just borrowed from future
generations
Like moths around the candle flame the human race flocked to
this new energy. It was released in engines working in
factories. The economy exploded into growth stimulated by
this new energy. People left the land to work in the
factories and ever since then the land has been depopulated
in favour of the big cities. This process is happening
today. Children leave for the "bright lights of the big
city" all over the world, all of the time. The new fuels
made it possible to grow more and more food with less and
less human power. This food could be transported further and
further. Food became plentiful freeing the people to leave
the food sources far, far, behind them.
Every third world shanty town is testimony to this effect.
The energy in the city is so seductive people will live in
utter squalour just to be THERE rather than the country. What
can the land offer? Insecurity? Poverty? There is nowhere to
go, nothing to see, it is boring. Dull. This demographic
shift is all a result of our use of Fossil Fuels. When the
energy curve is reversed the reverse will happen. Energy and
food in the cities will collapse. Suddenly the countryside,
with all of its biomass potential, will start to look very
tempting again.
The
land-to-city migration will finally be reversed. Then we
will see exactly where this leaves us. How far has our
population risen over the carrying capacity of the land
around us? The final step for every Carbon Cutter will be to
locate themselves somewhere where there is adequate land,
water, sun and wind to meet their survival requirements. |
