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Industry and Manufacturing

Direct Solar Power: Off-Grid Without Batteries

Using solar panels without backup infrastructure makes renewable energy production much more affordable, efficient and sustainable.

Human Powered Air Compressor and Energy Storage System

Andy Lagzdins built and documented a pedal-powered air compressor to run the power tools in his motorcycle workshop.

How to Make Biomass Energy Sustainable Again

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.

How to Run the Economy on the Weather

Adjusting energy demand to supply would make switching to renewable energy much more realistic than it is today.

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.

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

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

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

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.

Lost Knowledge: Ropes and Knots

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

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?