Gas Bag Buses in Shawan, China

January 22, 2013 by kris de decker Filed Under: Low-tech cars, Random, Tractors, Travel

Gas Bag Buses in Shawan China

This photo shows at least six operating gas bag buses in Shawan (“Sandy Bay”), Shandong, China, in 1965. I have added the picture to the article on gas bag vehicles. Cars and buses powered by uncompressed gas in large bags were used in many European countries in World War One and Two, and remained in use in some regions of China and other Asian countries until the 1990s. They are more than a historic curiosity, however. In a comment on our earlier article, Paul Nash notes:

“On further reflection, I think the best application for this system, and certainly the one with the least government regulations to hinder the process, would be for powering of farm equipment.

  • The gas bag could be installed on a frame on top of the tractor, or on a trailer behind, or a carrier in front or to the side, or some combination of these.
  • Aerodynamics are a non issue, and neither is the height of the bag.
  • There are no road safety rules to be dealt with.
  • The short range is often not an issue, the refueling station is never far away and the diesel engines can still operate on diesel alone if need be.
  • The gas bag system also eliminates the $4000 home compressor station needed to fill car CNG tanks from home.

And, of course, the farmer can produce the fuel himself, from waste material – manure, straw, even wood chips, instead of using the harvested grain for ethanol or biodiesel. A wood gasifier could also do this, but needs a warm up and cool down period – the gas bag can be used instantly and for short duration running – a common situation on farms.”

Read more about Gas Bag Vehicles and Wood Gas Cars (another answer to the limited supply of gasoline in World War One and Two).

Picture credit: Ray-Wu.

Poop by the Bucket: A Sewer Catastrophe Companion

January 21, 2013 by kris de decker Filed Under: Humanure

“This illustrated guide presents a series of graduated responses you can do to keep yourself and your community safe from disease during the short term and long term disruption of sewer services. It’s a solution for managing excreta that’s not excreting problems later. This flexible system is built around ubiquitous and freely available 5-gallon buckets and based on World Health Organization guidelines for excreta reuse. On two occasions it has been successfully deployed from available resources with little pre-planning.”

Poop by the bucket

Previously:

Think Outside the Bowl

January 21, 2013 by kris de decker Filed Under: Water management

Think outside the bowl

Caribou Skin Clothing Beats High-Tech Expedition Clothing

January 20, 2013 by kris de decker Filed Under: Clothes, Random

caribou skin clothing“Inuit elders continually stress the importance of wearing caribou skin clothing whenever travelling out on the land in the fall, winter, or spring. They believe caribou skin clothing provides protection from extremely cold weather that is superior to fabric ensembles recommended for the Arctic by some manufacturers. Inuit have used caribou skin clothing since pre-historic times. The purpose of this research was to collect laboratory and ethnographic data on the thermal comfort of Inuit-made caribou skin clothing, and expedition clothing produced for arctic travellers.”

“There were no significant differences in changes over time between the military and expedition clothing ensembles with either the perception of comfort data or the skin temperature data; therefore, these data are grouped together. Findings indicate that the overall skin temperature, as well as the cheek, thigh, toe, and torso temperatures, remained significantly higher when wearing the caribou skin ensemble compared to changes observed when wearing the military or expedition clothing ensembles.”

Comparison of traditional and manufactured cold weather ensembles (PDF), Jill Oakes, in Climate Research, February 23, 1995. The paper might be a bit outdated, but it is interesting to read. Picture: Inuit woman’s winter suit, pre-1927 at Liverpool Museums. More about caribou skin clothing at Gates of the Arctic. Thanks to Jon Freise.

Related: Insulation: first the body, then the home.

Directory of Open Access Journals

January 18, 2013 by kris de decker Filed Under: Access to information, Books & Reference

Open access journals“The aim of the Directory of Open Access Journals is to increase the
visibility and ease of use of open access scientific and scholarly
journals thereby promoting their increased usage and impact. The
Directory aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific
and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee
the content. In short a one stop shop for users to Open Access Journals.”

Especially interesting for Low-tech and No Tech Magazine readers are the journals in the categories History, Archaeology, Technology & Engineering, and Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Dedicated to Aaron Swartz. Also: #PDF Tribute to Aaron Swarz (via TechCrunch), a mass protest uploading of copyright-protected research articles. Previously: Censors of Knowledge.

Earthen Solar Cooker

January 17, 2013 by kris de decker Filed Under: DIY, Random, Solar

earthen solar cooker

“The Earthern Solar Cooker is a large parabolicly shaped hole in the ground lined with reflective materials such as salvaged pieces of broken mirrors or reflective can lids. The mirrors reflect and concentrate sunlight to the base of the hole where ten one gallon black containers of water can be boiled per hour and used for drinking or food preparation. Cooking/water boiling containers are accessed via steps carved into the side of the Earthen Solar Cooker.”

“A 2.5m diameter hole, 1.5m deep cooks 10 gal of rice/hr from 11am to 3pm on an 85f summer day in south central Oregon. Since the power of a parabolic concentrator is proportional to the surface area of it’s aperature (A = 3.14 x r^2), doubling the radius of the hole increases the power of the Earthen Solar Cooker by a factor of four.”

“An Earthen Solar Concentrator the size of a small amphitheater might be capable of casting bronze or boiling the water near the surface of a shallow well located at the vertex, thus making possible the creation of a solar bubble pump that could lift pasteurized water to a tank above ground level.” Read more about the project at Appropedia.

Previously: