Wild Man
This is surely the longest part of the day – waiting for the first coffee. The kettle was filled the night before, of course, and the wood set out neatly for lighting the little stove. But even though the heat builds up quickly, the kettle still seems to take an age first thing in the morning. So whilst I wait, I’ll tell you a little about how I live and how I got here. The first inkling of my changed life was a strange fact about cars. Make a car more fuel-efficient and people will drive more – in fact, people will drive more than even the extra amount that is allowed by the improved fuel-efficiency. This strange fact of human nature is repeated in numerous other examples. Staying with cars, for instance, if the price of fuel is reduced then again mileage goes up, beyond the amount that compensates for the price saved in fuel. Across the board, wherever there is an energy ‘saving’, we humans will end up using and spending more on whatever form that energy or saving happens to ta...