The graph above shocked me. I was aware that we are using much more energy than our grandparents in 1945, but 8 times as much? The graph is for Switzerland but I’m sure the orders of magnitude are the same elsewhere in Europe and North America, and have also risen substantially in the rest of the world.
What parts of my life require more and less energy? How does this compare to how my grandparents lived in 1945?
When I’m on a 5-day backpacking tour, I consume the energy to get there by bus, the food that was grown by others and dried by me, the clothing and equipment that was produced by others (and adapted by me). My paternal grandfather did a lot of backpacking in the Andes as a botanist. His equipment undoubtedly required much less energy to produce than mine. He was probably much less comfortable than me on my EXPED Down Mat.
When I’m on a kilometer-1000 bike ride (within 1000 kms from home) I take the train there and sleep in hotels and hostels, eating in restaurants. That consumes more energy than camping but is definitely more comfortable, even with modern gear. The hot shower after a long bike ride feels fantastic! (But the views are less interesting.)
Of course flying to Canada and Holland uses up an enormous amount of energy, keeping me and a hundred other people up in the sky for hours. As much as I love flying, I’m not very comfortable doing it anymore. I used to want to get my pilot’s license but have put those dreams away. There are other hobbies that are also fulfilling and less energy consuming.
Taking the night train to Holland has been wonderful. I’ve met so many cool women in the sleeping compartments.
Driving to visit family with all four of us in the car … How does the energy use compare to if we had taken the train?
I’ve bought some wool clothing lately, to be nice and cozy at home. I had an urge to wear colorful, happy clothing instead of the drab grey WFH sweats I wore for years. I’m sure I have way more trousers than my grandfather had. Not just 8 times more but rather 80 times more over my lifespan.
I do love optimizing things and acquiring the perfect new piece of equipment or clothing (or at least with the ability to be perfected). I buy many things second hand, but that turns quickly into too many things, stuff I don’t really need.
My studio feels better with less, allowing for more creativity. How can I have a cool and interesting life without using 8 times the energy that my grandparents did?
Mark Horrell has some ideas:
Cool and Interesting 
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