Peak Oil Jobs  

Following on from Dmitri's post-Soviet lessons and its exhortation to consider the post-peak sunrise industries of security, alcohol, drugs and asset stripping for a future career, New Era Investor describes #4 of its "Peak oil jobs" series (following The Dentist, The Real Estate Agent and The eBay Seller) - the camping site owner.

When Peak Oil begins to grind the economy down slowly and remorselessly, be prepared for a rerun of the 1970s - and that would just be the beginning. As people tighten their belts, holidays will take on a very economical aspect. Gone will be the cheap flights to distant sun kissed beaches and remote palm tree'd villas. In will come the tent and the caravan as they experience a renaissance. Our tent vacation was cheap by any standard - no hotel tariffs and no restaurant meals. In their place came the pitch fee and a gas cooker to prepare our own meals. Is this the shape of things to come?

One simple rule of thumb regarding Peak Oil is to view it as a film of society running backwards. The cheap air flights all reverse forever into their hangars and the large hotel complexes of inexpensive Mediterranean resorts are unbuilt to the ground. Meantime, the local resorts within a few hundred miles or so become more and more teeming with activity and the tents and caravans (or mobile homes) begin to proliferate on empty fields.

Some things will change within these genres. My father-in-law didn't haul a caravan to his destination, he rented one on site. When fuel costs rise painfully, that wisdom will become more apparent. The vacation villa will not disappear, it will just simply be nearer. However, they will not be owned as a second property or a timeshare for the impending end of the real estate bubble will bring that form of holiday investment to a long term ending.

While camp site attendent may be an alternative for a few people, I'd like to think that there are slightly more skilled occupations available in the future. Some alternatives that come to mind include renewable energy (solar, wind and tidal) power station construction related jobs, installer jobs for solar panels and micro wind power, manufacturing and retail jobs for "smart grid" related equipment, urban planning jobs that focus on designing sustainable cities, construction and maintenance jobs for an expanded public transport network (and related jobs like train and bus driver) and bicycle rental business proprietor.

Of course, the future may not be as Viridian as I would like - other areas with expanding career opportunities could include security guard for nuclear waste dumps and soldier in the US Army (apparently they are considering relaxing the entry requirements so that even non-English speaking foreigners can join).