ABSTRACT
Humanity is at a unique point in history, having at its disposal the greatest amount of historical and scientific information ever before available. The authors must create landscapes that fulfill social and spiritual needs as well as physical needs. The work of the New Alchemy Institute is an exploration of alternative ways of living. Author's intention is to create biotechnologies which anticipate the decline of fossil fuels and use instead the renewable energy of the sun and wind. By merging modern scientific tools and information with traditional knowledge, the authors want to create more benign methods of providing food, shelter, and energy. Fundamental design criteria are: Drawing upon such diverse fields of knowledge as agriculture, ecology, architecture, electronics, engineering, materials science and systems dynamics, the New Alchemy Institute has begun to develop biotechnologies on a small scale which fuse biology and technology to form the physical basis of regional self-reliance.
