Abstract
The political economy of growth capitalism and the suburban form it has produced both are dependent on the vast energy surpluses provided by fossil fuels. But fossil fuels are finite and being depleted at pace in an energy hungry world. The shale boom in the USA has deferred ‘peak oil’ temporarily, but this phenomenon threatens to constrain energy supply in coming years with destabilising social and economic implications. Furthermore, carbon budget analyses indicate that addressing climate change requires not just a ‘greening’ of energy supply but also a significant reduction in energy demand (relative to the wealthiest nations). In this chapter, Alexander and Gleeson argue that responding adequately to peak oil and climate change implies adapting to significantly reduced energy supply. But given the close connection between energy and economic growth, reduced energy supply means transcending the economics of growth and reimagining suburbia for an energy descent future beyond growth.
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Alexander, S., Gleeson, B. (2019). Carbon Suburbia and the Energy Descent Future. In: Degrowth in the Suburbs. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2131-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2131-3_2
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