From the Neolithic to the beginning of the twentieth century, coppiced woodlands, pollarded trees, and hedgerows provided people with a sustainable supply of energy, materials, and food.
Wood stoves equipped with thermoelectric generators can produce electricity that is more sustainable, more reliable, and less costly than power from solar PV panels.
The fire – which we have used in our homes for over 400,000 years – remains the most versatile and sustainable household technology that humanity has ever known.
The heat storage hypocaust could keep a room warm for days with just one firing of the furnace.
The expression “estar en la gloria” (to be inside the gloria) means that someone feels happy and comfortable.
Despite technological advancements since the Industrial Revolution, cooking remains a spectacularly inefficient process.
Lime burning is a now-forgotten industry that sustained many agrarian communities before energy became cheap.
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.
During the Second World War, almost every motorised vehicle in continental Europe was converted to use firewood.
Depending on the size of the kiln, it took between one and six weeks for the fire to complete a full circle.
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?