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Low-tech Solutions

Interesting possibilities arise when you combine old technology with new knowledge and new materials, or when you apply old concepts and traditional knowledge to modern technology.

The Bright Future of Solar Thermal Powered Factories

To 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.

Pedal Powered Farms and Factories: The Forgotten Future of the Stationary Bicycle

The possibilities of pedal power largely exceed the use of the bicycle.

Insulation: First the Body, Then the Home

Modern thermal underclothing offers the possibility to turn the thermostat much lower without sacrificing comfort or sex appeal.

The Velomobile: High-tech Bike or Low-tech Car?

The human power required to achieve a speed of 30 km/h in a velomobile is only 79 watts, compared to 271 watts on a normal bicycle.

Recycling Animal and Human Dung is the Key to Sustainable Farming

Flushing the water closet wreaks ecological havoc, deprives agricultural soils of essential nutrients and makes food production dependent on fossil fuels.

Cars: out of the way

We don’t need any new cycling infrastructure. What we need is to clear the current road infrastructure of inefficient vehicles and replace them with efficient ones.

How to make everything yourself - online low-tech resources

Manuals and tutorials for low-tech solutions.

Get Wired (Again): Trolleybuses and Trolleytrucks

Trolleybuses and trolleytrucks have all the advantages of electric cars – and none of their drawbacks.

Sailing at the Touch of a Button

If you want a revival of sail the high-tech way, you can have it.

Cargo Ships, Then and Now

Time for a new age of sail.

Camping in the clouds: the Aeromodeller II

The gipsy zeppelin baseship of Lieven Standaert generates its own energy, never has to land, and is equipped with a sun terrace where you can have a coffee.

Sunbathing in the Living Room: Oven Stoves and Heat Walls

Oven stoves are greener, more efficient, healthier, safer and cosier than all modern heating systems. Why are they gone and how do we get them back?