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JoshuaZ comments on Stanislav Petrov Day - Less Wrong
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I ask because a lot of that modern technology seems predicated on cheap oil and all its derivatives like plastic or lubricants etc., such that aluminum is only a small benefit and nowhere even close to a bit of oil.
What's the signal use of aluminum? Airplanes, but how are you going to economically power aluminum-built airplanes? Or skyscapers - but what's the point of such dense expensive buildings if you are in an Industrial Revolution which is stalling out because the forests have been burned, the easy coal mined out, and oil completely unavailable? (Checking Wikipedia for aluminum, the lede highlights... 'aerospace' and 'transportation'. And a lot of the other cited uses seem like they have viable alternatives, like copper - also available easily in the corpses of cities.)
That's a good point. I'm probably overestimating the usefulness of aluminum in this context.
I think it would basically fill the role of mithril. Neat very very expensive weapons/armour held as a royal treasure. A status symbol far too valuable to actually be used. With the occasional exception (radioactive hobbit stumbling into some in the swamps of N'ork).
Well, if one was using it for armor it wouldn't be that hard to get a lot from the old cans and cars lying around. And the melting point isn't that high. So it might actually be a common form of armor.