Battery used Battery charging

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 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.

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.

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

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

Bike Powered Electricity Generators are Not Sustainable

The present approach to pedal power results in highly inefficient machines.

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.

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.