From Human-Centered Design to Human-Centered Society

7 Energy and Climate

DOI: 10.4324/9781003462361-7

In Chapter 3, we were buying cars. Chapter 4 saw us buying laptops and digital devices. In Chapter 5, we consumed the Internet and social media. Chapter 6 addressed services for health and well-being. All of these ecosystems consume energy. We cannot meaningfully address the challenges in these ecosystems without considering the energy sources involved and the environmental consequences.

In this chapter, I focus directly on innovations in energy extraction, conversion, and transmission, as well as innovations in oversight of the industry. I then address the financial, physical, and psychological exploitation that has followed these innovations. As in the earlier chapters, I adopt a human-centered ...