Throughout history, people have bathed in public rather than in private. Should we bring back the public bathhouse for the sake of sustainability?
This guide explains everything you need to know to build stand-alone photovoltaic systems that can power almost anything you want.
Low-tech Magazine built a bicycle generator for an exhibition on energy at the Pavillon d’Arsenal in Paris, now open to the public. Our two other bikes can be seen and experimented with in Rotterdam and Barcelona.
Using solar panels without backup infrastructure makes renewable energy production much more affordable, efficient and sustainable.
Andy Lagzdins built and documented a pedal-powered air compressor to run the power tools in his motorcycle workshop.
We built a pedal-powered generator and controller, which is practical to use as an energy source and exercise machine in a household – and which you can integrate into a solar PV system. We provide detailed plans to build your own, using basic skills and common hand tools.
Imagine a personal heating system that works indoors as well as outdoors, can be taken anywhere, requires little energy, and is independent of any infrastructure. It exists – and is hundreds of years old.
The printed archives of Low-tech Magazine now amount to four volumes with a total of 2,398 pages and 709 images.
George Cove, a forgotten solar power pioneer, may have built a highly efficient photovoltaic panel 40 years before Bell Labs engineers invented silicon cells. If proven to work, his design could lead to less complex and more sustainable solar panels.
It is surprisingly difficult to build a carbon neutral sailing ship. This is even more the case today, because our standards for safety, health, hygiene, comfort, and convenience have changed profoundly since the Age of Sail.
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.