<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><div style="font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><div class="" role="main" aria-label="Message body" style="padding: 0px;"><div id="yiv9689808291" class=""><div class=""><div style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif;"><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif;">I subscribe to an innovative and irreverent (and somewhat irregular) online journal that describes itself thus:</div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif;"><br class="" style=""></div><div style="font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 11px; clear: none; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-size: 14px;">Low-tech Magazine refuses to assume that every problem has a
high-tech solution. A simple, sensible, but nevertheless controversial message; high-tech has become the idol of our society. <span class="" style="background-color: transparent;">Instead, Low-tech Magazine talks about the potential of past and often forgotten knowledge and technologies when it comes to designing a sustainable society. Sometimes, these low-tech solutions could be copied without any changes. More often, interesting possibilities arise when you combine old technology with new knowledge and new materials, or when you apply old concepts and traditional knowledge to modern technology. We also keep an eye on what is happening in the developing world, where resource constraints often lead to inventive, low-tech solutions.</span></div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;">This last week they have published <span style="font-style: italic;">two</span> articles that will be of
interest to many of you:</div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;"><br class="" style=""></div><h3 style="font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; display: table; line-height: 34px; text-align: center;"><span class="" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px;">If We Insulate Our Houses, Why Not Our Cooking Pots?</span></h3><div class="" style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/07/cooking-pot-insulation-key-to-sustainable-cooking.html">http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/07/cooking-pot-insulation-key-to-sustainable-cooking.html</a><br></div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;">where they examine some of the history of fireless cookers (such as hayboxes) in the somewhat developed world, and touch on other improved
cooking methods that you will be familiar with (solar cooking, pressure cookers, pot skirts, and combinations of these).</div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;"><br class="" style=""></div><h3 style="font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; display: table; line-height: 34px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px;" class="">Well-Tended Fires Outperform Modern Cooking Stoves</span></h3><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/06/thermal-efficiency-cooking-stoves.html" class="" style="color: rgb(25, 106, 212);">http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2014/06/thermal-efficiency-cooking-stoves.html</a><br class="" style=""></div><div class="" style="font-family:
garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;">A thought provoking discussion of improved biomass stoves and a variety of modern (and so supposedly extra efficient) cooking appliances. I won't give away all the details, but I am always glad to see it mentioned that three stone fires can be surprisingly efficient (and are amazingly under discussed) - I have measured them as approaching 40% when using the frequent tending method we employ for testing improved stoves, with there being a very strong dependence on firepower. Maybe we shouldn't bash traditional stoves quite so much, and spend the energy instead examining and promoting best practices for them in those areas where name brand improved stoves cannot be considered an immediate realistic goal.</div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;"><br class="" style=""></div><div class="" style="font-family:
garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;">Charlie Sellers</div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-style: italic;" class="">now based in Geneva</span></div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;"> </div><div class="" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent;">p.s. the curious among you will find a wealth of other information of interest in their accumulated files shown in the sidebar, particularly those relating to energy - they have covered woodgas vehicles, human powered machines, water motors and direct hydropower, solar and wind powered factories, and more with their unique blend of careful historical research and vintage illustrations.</div></div></div></div></div><div class="" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe
UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"></div></div><div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></div><div class="" style=""><br style=""></div></div></body></html>