Low-tech Magazine Volume I (2007-2012)

Low-tech Magazine underscores the potential of past and often forgotten technologies and how they can inform sustainable energy practices. Sometimes, past technologies can be copied without any changes. More often, interesting possibilities arise when older technology is combined with new knowledge and new materials, or when past concepts and traditional knowledge are applied to modern technology. Inspiration is also to be found in the so-called “developing” world, where resource constraints often lead to inventive, low-tech solutions. This first volume features a third of the web articles published in the earlier years, carefully selected for their continued relevance and interest today. The book contains 31 articles and 260 images in black & white. Compared to the website, we have partly rewritten some stories, updated all references, and added more or better images. Second, revised edition (2026). Originally published in 2019. Contents table: Email in the 18th century: the optical telegraph Satellite navigation in the 18th century Bring back the horses Life without airplanes: from London to New York in 3 days and 12 hours The Citroen 2CV: cleantech from the 1940s A steam powered submarine: the Ictíneo Tiles as a substitute for steel: the art of the timbrel vault Moonlight towers: light pollution in the 1800s The monster footprint of digital technology Get wired (again): Trolleybuses and Trolleytrucks Electric road trains in Germany, 1901 – 1950 Water powered cable trains Wind powered factories: history (and future) of industrial windmills Rings of fire: Hoffmann kilns How (not) to resolve the energy crisis Trolley canal boats Wood gas vehicles: firewood in the fuel tank The sky is the limit: human powered cranes and lifting devices The status quo of electric cars: better batteries, same range Recycling animal and human dung is the key to sustainable farming Boat mills: water powered, floating factories Hand powered drilling tools and machines Aerial ropeways: automatic cargo transport for a bargain Insulation: first the body, then the home The short history of early pedal powered machines Pedal powered farms and factories: the forgotten future of the stationary bicycle Commercial bike generators are not sustainable The bright future of solar powered factories Medieval smokestacks: fossil fuels in pre-industrial times Gas bag vehicles How to downsize a transport network: the Chinese wheelbarrow