Low-tech energy for essential, accessible, ecological transitions

Contemporary discourse, imaginaries, politics, research, and investment vastly favor a high-tech energy future beyond fossil fuels. This context sets the tone for the so-called energy transition, diminishing options, narrowing debates, and increasing risks of failure and confusion. This framing further positions the wealthy of the world as the source of innovation, expertise, finance, and power, as the standard-bearers of energy futures. Low-tech possibilities reverse the flow of learning and invert the very notion of progress. This paper aims to give new life to the road not (yet) taken: a low-energy, low-tech, energy-ecological future. In the context of the energy transition now a half century on, low-tech refers to various technologies and techniques useful for meeting essential needs in ways accessible to as many people as possible, and ecologically designed to be sturdy, repairable, recyclable, agile, and functional. The paper summarizes the arch of such narratives and options from the time of the energy crisis of the 1970s, then asserts key reasons for taking up such options now, as related to the defining qualities of low-tech. A review then follows of the contemporary status of low-tech energy systems, reflecting diversity of place. These systems provide and enable energy and electricity, water, food, shelter, mobility, and multiple applications for home, farm, and community. Equally as important as technology is the commitment to collaborate and share through applications of low-tech systems. Recognizing such diversity demonstrates that low-tech continues to garner interest even among high-energy societies. These options are positioned as key elements supporting energy sovereignty and an energy-ecological future. Research, practice, and communication must give greater attention toward low-tech pathways for diverse, achievable, and genuinely viable post-fossil fuel futures.