The Age of Low Tech: Towards a Technologically Sustainable Civilization

by Philippe Bihouix

Overview

People often believe that we can overcome the profound environmental and climate crises we face by smart systems, green innovations and more recycling. However, the quest for complex technological solutions, which rely on increasingly exotic and scarce materials, makes this unlikely.

A best-seller in France, this English language edition introduces readers to an alternative perspective on how we should be marshalling our resources to preserve the planet and secure our future. Bihouix skilfully goes against the grain to argue that ‘high’ technology will not solve global problems and envisages a different approach to build a more resilient and sustainable society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529213270
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	11/21/2020
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	198
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Philippe Bihouix is an independent author and engineer. He worked for 25 years in various industrial sectors including construction, energy, chemicals, transport, telecommunications and aerospace, in Europe and Africa.

He is a member of the Institut Momentum, a French think-tank on the Anthropocene, ecological overshoot and transition.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii

Acknowledgements viii

Preface to the English Edition ix

Prologue: The Mad Dance of the Shrimps xiii

Part I The Rise and Fall of 'ENGINEERING Miracle-Workers' 1

How technology has (always) responded to the shortage of resources 2

Why high tech is not an answer this time 21

To finish, the latest pet high-tech themes 34

The triple dead-end of an extractivist, productivist and consumerist society 45

Part II The Principles of Simple Technologies 49

Challenge the needs 50

Truly sustainable design and production 56

Orient knowledge towards economic use of resources 61

Finding the balance between performance and conviviality 63

Relocation without losing (good) economies of scale 65

De-mechanize services 76

Knowing how to stay modest 78

Part III Daily Life in the Era of Simple Technologies 81

Agriculture and food 82

Transport and cars 92

Construction and urban planning 98

Consumer products, sports and leisure, tourism 102

New technology, informatics and communications systems 109

Banks and finance 117

To love, live and die in a low-technology age 122

When rubbish bins disappear 126

And where is energy in all this? 130

Part IV Is 'Transition' Possible? 135

The impossible status quo 135

Between wait-and-see, fatalism and 'survivalism' 138

The major issue of employment 141

The question of scale: lessons from British abolitionism 151

Cultural and moral questions 155

How to make the transition desirable: long live low tech! 157

Finishing on a positive note 159

Epilogue: A Dream If Ever There Was One 161

Notes 165

Index 171

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Every engineer needs to read this book; the world can’t transition without us having a clear perspective. " Susan Krumdieck, Heriot-Watt University

"This book brings to life the ideas of appropriate technology for our future – full of global threats and opportunities.” Ian Roderick, The Schumacher Institute

"There is no high-tech quick-fix against climate change. Technology can help us. But a much more responsible behavior in consumption and production is the most important. A new civilization!" Mogens Lykketoft, Former President of the United Nations General Assembly

"Without low tech, the fight against climate change, resource depletion, and species extinctions may fail. Philippe Bihouix provides evidence and argument from a range of industries and disciplines, and handles it with intelligence, ease, and humour." Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute

"A courageous book that challenges some dominant discourses about how to transition to sustainability, questioning the degree to which ‘green growth’ and ‘high tech’ can offer viable solutions." Karen Bell, University of the West of England

“Crystal clear in its message, analyses many new technologies and explains the difficulties for an effective recycling of their components … rigorous, fun and easy to read.” Antonio Valero, author of Thanatia: The destiny of Earth Mineral Resources

“Provides us with ideas on how to be prepared for a future that depends on a problem caused by the squandering in a few centuries of mineral resources accumulated over billions of years. Bihouix highlights how we can maintain civilization if we are more careful with how we use and recycle those resources. “ Ugo Bardi, University of Florence

“Technology will not get humanity out of the situation it is putting itself in: Bihouix offers an important yet imperfect critique of techno-optimism as well as offering a vision of a future that is worth looking forward to. I wish I had written it.” Steve Evans, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

Editorial Reviews

"A smart sideways look at where we are and what we call progress." The Earthbound Report

“Bihouix has written lightly and warmly about a topic that could otherwise paralyse us in fear and despair… The English translation by Chris McMahon is very welcome indeed.” Feasta

“The Age of Low Tech is a funny, informal, practical, angry, and subtly deep book….It reads like a recollection from a casual discussion with a fierce but jaded mind.” Resilience

From the Publisher