Assume
arguendo a fixed fuel supply. Note that cars have gone from 15 to 50mpg. If that gain could be generalized, Fuller's goal of increasing the overall efficiency of society from 4% (his number) to 8% would be achieved.
Maybe make airliners and autonomous drone mining trucks from nano-scaled metal sponges:
https://www.caltech.edu/news/new-pro...ructures-81373
This article,
The Architect’s Role in Material Conservation, name-checks Buckminster Fuller.
Quote:
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In order to contribute meaningfully to this goal, architects must look beyond environmental tracking methods like LEED—which are inwardly focused on projects—and adopt an understanding of global resource trends that are conventionally considered external to projects. Such a broad outlook could lead to beneficial new design strategies and policies—for example, the avoidance of building products that employ high percentages of critical metals or the coupling of a building’s resource budget with services provided by its local ecology.
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The story from Fuller's drunken mystic phase:
Quote:
During the autumn of 1927, Fuller contemplated suicide by drowning in Lake Michigan, so that his family could benefit from a life insurance payment.[8]
Fuller said that he had experienced a profound incident which would provide direction and purpose for his life. He felt as though he was suspended several feet above the ground enclosed in a white sphere of light. A voice spoke directly to Fuller, and declared:.....
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Also.... clothesline paradox.