Battery used Battery charging

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.

Piston-powered aircraft from the 1950s were as fuel-efficient as the current average jet

Estimates about the fuel efficiency of aircraft ignore the record of the pre-jet era.

Lost Knowledge: Ropes and Knots

Ropewalk factories are some of the most remarkable industrial workshops and buildings in history.

How to tie the world together: online knotting reference books

Not so long ago, each profession or trade had adopted the knots best suited to its requirements, and knotting was part of their daily lives.

The Status Quo of Electric Cars: Better Batteries, Same Range

We don’t need better batteries, we need better cars.

Overview of Early Electric Cars (1895-1925)

One hundred years ago electric cars were a common sight on city streets in Europe and the United States.

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.

How (Not) To Resolve the Energy Crisis

Increasing the share of renewable energy will not make us any less dependent on fossil fuels as long as total energy consumption keeps rising.

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.