The Art of Producing Sustainable Consumer Goods: Basketry
Obsolete TechnologyVirtually all human cultures have made baskets, and have apparently done so since we co-existed with ground sloths and sabre-toothed cats.
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The solar envelope: how to heat and cool cities without fossil fuels
Low-tech SolutionsIn order to ensure solar access and fresh air, many cities in Europe and in the United States enacted a variety of building codes between the 1850s and the 1930s.
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How to Downsize a Transport Network: The Chinese Wheelbarrow
Obsolete TechnologyFor being such a seemingly ordinary vehicle, the wheelbarrow has a surprisingly exciting history.
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Gas Bag Vehicles
Obsolete TechnologyThe old-timers on these pictures are not moving furniture or an oversized load. What can be seen on the roof is the fuel tank of the vehicle - a balloon filled with uncompressed gas.
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Medieval Smokestacks: Fossil Fuels in Pre-industrial Times
Obsolete TechnologyAlmost all of the leading economies in Western Europe during the last millenium relied on a large-scale use of fossil fuels such as peat and coal.
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The Bright Future of Solar Thermal Powered Factories
Low-tech SolutionsTo power industrial processes like the making of chemicals, the smelting of metals or the production of microchips, we need a renewable source of thermal energy.
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Bike Powered Electricity Generators are Not Sustainable
High-tech ProblemsThe present approach to pedal power results in highly inefficient machines.
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The Short History of Early Pedal Powered Machines
Obsolete TechnologyFrom the 1870s onwards, pedals and cranks were attached to tools like lathes, saws, grinders, shapers, tool sharpeners and to boring, drilling and cutting machines.
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Pedal Powered Farms and Factories: The Forgotten Future of the Stationary Bicycle
Low-tech SolutionsThe possibilities of pedal power largely exceed the use of the bicycle.
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Insulation: First the Body, Then the Home
Low-tech SolutionsModern thermal underclothing offers the possibility to turn the thermostat much lower without sacrificing comfort or sex appeal.
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Aerial Ropeways: Automatic Cargo Transport for a Bargain
Obsolete TechnologyCargo tramways can be fully or partly powered by gravity, and some deliver excess power that can be utilized to generate electricity or to drive cranes or machinery in nearby factories
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Hand Powered Drilling Tools and Machines
Obsolete technologyDuring the last quarter of the 19th century, a radically improved generation of tools appeared.