Making Lemonade
Economy and Jobs in a Post-Peak Oil World
By Sri Subramanian
HopeDance, December 2004
...One of the questions I’ve been struggling with is, what kind of a future job should I be preparing for? I work in the global software market. I am currently working on a project to help cell phone service providers assist customers with cool, so-called "killer-apps." Want to take a picture of your 3-year-old girl swaying to the sounds of a musician in one of Santa Barbara’s Farmers’ markets, and then e-mail it to your mom, all with your cell phone? Sure, we can do that.
Will I have such a job when energy is needed simply for survival? Will as much energy be available for transportation when a burgeoning global population, weaned on petrochemical-based food production, is starving? Will people travel as much? If they don’t travel, will cell phones become niche items? Will a global economy be even possible in such a future?
Principles for the Post-Peak Oil Job Market
Kurt Cobb
April 2006
When I speak before college audiences about peak oil, I often ask if there are any engineers present. I suggest that they concentrate on jobs that will produce rather than consume energy, particularly energy that is renewable and doesn't create greenhouse gas emissions. While it is difficult to tell exactly what kinds of jobs will be available in the post-peak oil age, inklings of some broad principles are coming into view.
Downsized? Get a New Green Job!
By Brian Clark Howard
Chris Jobson of Darien, Conn. was recently downsized from his job in IT management. But Jobson is seeing the setback as an opportunity to do something he really cares about, while still contributing to the bills in the household he shares with his wife and children.
"I've been talking to several solar and wind companies. I've been saying that it doesn't have to be exactly IT management, but that I'm hoping I can use my years of diverse experience to help green companies grow," explains Jobson, who says he has been looking into both small, scrappy start-ups and green tech wings of major multinationals.
By Sri Subramanian
HopeDance, December 2004
...One of the questions I’ve been struggling with is, what kind of a future job should I be preparing for? I work in the global software market. I am currently working on a project to help cell phone service providers assist customers with cool, so-called "killer-apps." Want to take a picture of your 3-year-old girl swaying to the sounds of a musician in one of Santa Barbara’s Farmers’ markets, and then e-mail it to your mom, all with your cell phone? Sure, we can do that.
Will I have such a job when energy is needed simply for survival? Will as much energy be available for transportation when a burgeoning global population, weaned on petrochemical-based food production, is starving? Will people travel as much? If they don’t travel, will cell phones become niche items? Will a global economy be even possible in such a future?
Principles for the Post-Peak Oil Job Market
Kurt Cobb
April 2006
When I speak before college audiences about peak oil, I often ask if there are any engineers present. I suggest that they concentrate on jobs that will produce rather than consume energy, particularly energy that is renewable and doesn't create greenhouse gas emissions. While it is difficult to tell exactly what kinds of jobs will be available in the post-peak oil age, inklings of some broad principles are coming into view.
Downsized? Get a New Green Job!
By Brian Clark Howard
Chris Jobson of Darien, Conn. was recently downsized from his job in IT management. But Jobson is seeing the setback as an opportunity to do something he really cares about, while still contributing to the bills in the household he shares with his wife and children.
"I've been talking to several solar and wind companies. I've been saying that it doesn't have to be exactly IT management, but that I'm hoping I can use my years of diverse experience to help green companies grow," explains Jobson, who says he has been looking into both small, scrappy start-ups and green tech wings of major multinationals.