Low-tech Magazine

Sailing at the touch of a button

Lloyd Alter at Treehugger talks about our article on cargo ships and wonders if it is time for a new age of sail. One reader comments that sailing boats require a much larger crew than today's cargo vessels, which would make a comeback of wind power unrealistic. Maybe, but these days, sailing boats can also be controlled by computers instead of sailors.

Cargo ships, then and now

On an early afternoon last month, the Eugen Maersk (the world's longest ocean freighter at 1,300 feet) has left Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on the tail end of a journey from Shanghai. But the giant freighter is cruising at 10 knots, well shy of her 26-knot top speed. At about half speed, fuel consumption drops to 100-150 tons of fuel a day from 350 tons, saving as much as $5,000 an hour.

The German Preussen (picture above), the largest sailing ship ever built, was launched in 1902 and travelled mainly between Hamburg (Germany) and Iquique (Chile). It was rammed by a large steam vessel in 1910. A one way trip between Germany and Chile took the cargo vessel between 58 and 79 days. The best average speed over a one way trip was 13.7 knots. The lowest average speed was 10 knots.

One giant container ship can emit almost the same amount of cancer and asthma-causing chemicals as 50 million cars, study finds. Time for a new age of sail.

Picture credit.

Who killed the electric grid? Fast-charging electric cars

Charging electric cars with off-peak power is a fantasy.

Fast recharging times generate lots of excitement, but what seems to be forgotten is that they can lead to a fabulous amount of peak demand.

If you charge an electric car with a battery capacity of 25 kWh during 8 hours, it needs a power output of 3,125 watts. If you charge the same car in just 10 minutes, it needs a power output of 155,000 watts.

The Museum of Old Techniques

For almost every electronic device or oil driven machine there used to be a low-tech alternative that was powered by human muscles, water or wind. The Museum of Old Techniques aims to collect and study these historical alternatives to modern day machinery. Why, you may ask?

To quote the Museum: "Evolution doesn't necessarily mean progress, what we consider to be primitive solutions are often not primitive at all". We could not have said it better ourselves. The website of the MOT contains, among other things, some 2,000 simple drawings of hand tools (ordered by shape, and by profession) and a collection of illustrated trade catalogues (up until 1950, in French).

A somewhat related publication is Edward H. Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary (1881) : an almost 3,000 page encyclopedia with descriptions and illustrations of tools, instruments, machines, processes and engineering dating from the 19th century. You need to download a plugin to see the scans.

Knight's book contains not only early electric equipment and steam driven machinery, but also human and animal powered machines. The site is also host to a 1,500 page Western Electric Catalog dating from 1916, describing and picturing electric equipment on sale at the time. More obsolete technologies. (sj)

Truckloads of hard disks

Imagine you put a portable hard disk of 500 gigabytes in your backpack and start walking.
In which cases are you faster than your internet connection?

Camping in the clouds: the Aeromodeller II

The gipsy zeppelin baseship of Lieven Standaert generates its own energy, never has to land, and is equipped with a sun terrace where you can have a coffee.

Moonlight towers: light pollution in the 1800s

At the end of the 19th century, many towns and cities were lit up by powerful electrical lamps placed on towers up to 300 feet (90 metres) high.

The arc lamp - the first electric light and the predecessor of Edison’s incandescent light bulb - was extremely bright and much more energy efficient than other lighting technologies from those times. The lamps were too strong for indoor use, but they were regarded as the future of municipal lighting. Especially in the United States, many cities and towns were illuminated as if they were immense sports stadiums.

Only idiots travel by train

Can you create a website like Low-tech Magazine and then hop on a plane to visit your family for Christmas? I don't think so. This year my girlfriend and I will travel from Barcelona to Brussels by train. An expensive business.