Could We Dredge the Netherlands Without Fossil Fuels?
For centuries, the Netherlands were mainly dredged by hand, supplemented by animal power, wind power and tidal power. Could it be done again?
Obsolete Technology
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.
High-tech has become the idol of our society, but technological progress is—more often than not—aimed at solving problems caused by earlier technical inventions.
There is a lot of potential in past and often forgotten knowledge and technologies when it comes to designing a sustainable society.
History and Future of the Compressed Air Economy
Historical compressed air systems hold the key to the design of a low-tech, low-cost, robust, sustainable and relatively energy efficient energy storage medium.
Heat Storage Hypocausts: Air Heating in the Middle Ages
The heat storage hypocaust could keep a room warm for days with just one firing of the furnace.
Power Water Networks
Hydraulic power transmission is very efficient compared to electricity when it is used to operate powerful but infrequently used machines.
Fruit Walls: Urban Farming in the 1600s
From the sixteenth to the twentieth century, urban farmers grew Mediterranean fruits and vegetables as far north as England and the Netherlands, using only renewable energy.
Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, not Places
Most modern heating systems are primarily based on the heating of air. This seems an obvious choice, but there are far worthier alternatives.
Burning the Bones of the Earth: Lime Kilns
Lime burning is a now-forgotten industry that sustained many agrarian communities before energy became cheap.
Power from the Tap: Water Motors
In the nineteenth century, miniature water turbines were connected to the tap and could power any machine that is now driven by electricity
The Mechanical Transmission of Power (3): Endless Rope Drives
The trend towards small-scale, decentralised power production means that rope transmission might have a place in our energy system again
The Mechanical Transmission of Power (2): Jerker Line Systems
Jerker line systems can be used to operate water pumps or sawing machines, to forge iron, to process food or fibres, or to make paper.
The Mechanical Transmission of Power (1): Stangenkunst
Long-distance power transmission predates the invention of electricity by almost four centuries.
The Art of Producing Sustainable Consumer Goods: Basketry
Virtually all human cultures have made baskets, and have apparently done so since we co-existed with ground sloths and sabre-toothed cats.
How to Downsize a Transport Network: The Chinese Wheelbarrow
For being such a seemingly ordinary vehicle, the wheelbarrow has a surprisingly exciting history.
Gas Bag Vehicles
The 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.
Medieval Smokestacks: Fossil Fuels in Pre-industrial Times
Almost 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.
The Short History of Early Pedal Powered Machines
From the 1870s onwards, pedals and cranks were attached to tools like lathes, saws, grinders, shapers, tool sharpeners and to boring, drilling and cutting machines.
Aerial Ropeways: Automatic Cargo Transport for a Bargain
Cargo 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
Hand Powered Drilling Tools and Machines
During the last quarter of the 19th century, a radically improved generation of tools appeared.
Boat Mills: Water Powered, Floating Factories
Boat mills, bridge mills and hanging mills were almost as widespread as windmills.
Lost Knowledge: Ropes and Knots
Ropewalk factories are some of the most remarkable industrial workshops and buildings in history.
The Sky is the Limit: Human-Powered Cranes and Lifting Devices
The only advantage that fossil-fuelled powered cranes have brought us, is a higher lifting speed
Wood Gas Vehicles: Firewood in the Fuel Tank
During the Second World War, almost every motorised vehicle in continental Europe was converted to use firewood.
Trolley Canal Boats
Only four years after the first experimental trolleybus, an ordinary steam canal boat was adapted to a trolleyboat.
Rings of Fire: Hoffmann Kilns
Depending on the size of the kiln, it took between one and six weeks for the fire to complete a full circle.
Wind Powered Factories: History (and Future) of Industrial Windmills
Would it make sense to revive the industrial windmill and again convert kinetic energy directly into mechanical energy?
Water Powered Cable Trains
Cable trains (or funiculars) are one of the most energy-efficient modes of transport out there.
Tiles as a Substitute for Steel: The Art of the Timbrel Vault
The craftsmanship associated with timbrel vaulting has long vanished, but the achievements are still with us today.
A Steam Powered Submarine: The Ictíneo
Narcís Monturiol successfully resolved the two basic obstacles presented to submarine inventors: air supply and mechanical power.
The Citroen 2CV: Cleantech from the 1940s
In spite of all the high-tech that has been squeezed into cars, the 2CV from 1949 is still more energy efficient than the smallest Citroen today.
Life Without Airplanes: from London to New York in 3 Days and 12 Hours
If we would stuff people in the ‘Queen Mary 2’ like we fold passengers into airplane seats, the ship could transport more than 500,000 people
Life Before Television
Turn off your flat screen television and get lost in 17th, 18th and 19th century optical entertainment.
Satellite Navigation in the 18th Century
More than two centuries ago, it was possible to very accurately pinpoint your position on earth by means of ‘satellites’.
Email in the 18th Century: The Optical Telegraph
More than 200 years ago it was already possible to send messages throughout Europe and America at the speed of an aeroplane – wireless and without need for electricity.