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 Appropriate Technology 101 January 28, 2006 9:53 PM


One of the tools of sustainable development is the use of appropriate technology. The following group is a tool for this group to explore and discuss appropriate technologies.

Appropriate Technology 101

This thread is asking how can we apply these appropriate technologies to future development, and is the application of them really working toward sustainability.

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Vissions and dreams January 29, 2006 6:22 PM

Thevissions and dreams that were used to secure funding for that wonderful tower in the picture woulde be nice to be able to review.  Have we succeeded to solve those vissions and dreams?  Did the tower make that success closer to reality?  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
Tower of Dreams January 29, 2006 6:34 PM





Morgan offered Tesla $150,000 to build a transmission tower and power plant. A more realistic sum would have been $1,000,000, but Tesla took what was available and went to work immediately. In spite of what he told his investor, Tesla's actual plan was to make a large-scale demonstration of electrical power transmission without wires. This turned out to be a fatal mistake.

In 1905, after some amazing electrical displays, Tesla and his team had to abandon the project forever.

The PBS Story
http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_todre.html


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Ah...and what "towers" are being built today? January 29, 2006 7:05 PM

We need to build "towers" in order to create successes.  Yes, on the way there are failures.  But even failures result in something learned which often lead to new "towers" and successes.  Dream on...  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
Re Tesla March 26, 2006 8:37 PM

Tesla had hundreds of patents to his name if I recall correctly. We can thank him for all electrical devices and power today, besides the 12 volt stuff that Edison invented.

Who knows that happened to the free electricity idea and concepts that Tesla invented? I would not blame Tesla.

My guess is that a saboteur came in and ruined it. Every one of Teslas inventions worked 100% correctly after they were built, with this one exception. He was not just a genius, but a super genius.

How did he do it? Well, he invented something in his mind, and then worked it in his brain until it operated properly. Then he built it. This is according to him, how he invented everything.

Edison on the other hand invented stuff by trial and error. The lightbulb was invented after 1,000 failures, and burning down his lab once or twice.

Now why did Tesla die penniless and broke in jail? That is another story.....

Who profited from Teslas ideas? That is another story.... which very few people know anything about.

History has a way of forgetting about the true hero and giving credit to people who do not deserve it.

His-story....  which might not be true or accurate.

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Appropriate Technology 101 August 28, 2006 10:09 AM

"What happened to Tesla's.............."

My understanding is that all of his research and patents went  to what is called General Electric / Westinghouse today.  When he died, apparently they went in and just took them from his family.  Not sure, but I think I read this from a book on his life by M. Cheney (?)

Nice, huh?

Debra

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sustainable infrastructures August 30, 2006 2:14 AM

A sustainable society must develop and use sustainable infrastructures. Non of which exists today. But there does seem to be a large opportunity to begin implementing them.

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 September 16, 2006 9:24 PM

My best teacher about appropriate technology was Pliny Fisk in Austin, Texas. I had him at UT in 1976 and he's going strong now.

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ONLY TODAY LEFT TO VOTE! November 17, 2007 1:08 AM

We only have today left to vote!!! Please take action!!

WHY WOULD YOU VOTE FOR FOST (cooking without gas) IN THE WORLD CHALLENGE 2007?

FoST is not targetting one certain group or one certain problem. They are looking for answers and solutions to stop the vicious circle the rural and urban poor are facing not only in Nepal, but on our whole planet.

With their simple, but highly effective solutions they are fighting important global problems such as:

- POVERTY (by educating and empowering communities, teach them how to save costs, creating opportunities for them to earn extra money and even start their own business from the raw materials available in their own locality)

- POLLUTION (by introducing more sustainable technologies and clean renewable energies such as various types of solar cooking ranges, water pasteurizing devices, solar drying devices, heat retention, fire wood efficient stoves, other energy efficient technologies for reducing indoor air pollution without using sophisticated costly devices and without costly fossil fuels such as kerosene and L.P. gas)

- WASTE AND GARBAGE (by using waste such as all kinds of paper wastes, saw dust, scrap wood from the furniture industries, grass, leaves, rice husk, bagasse, roots, etc)

- DEFORESTATION (by using briquettes made from household wastes, agri- and forest residues, industrial wastes, packaging wastes from trading houses instead of fire wood by chopping trees)

- DESERTIFICATION / LANDSLIDES (caused by clearing of trees and plants for firewood)

- ILLNESSES CAUSED BY INDOOR AIR POLLUTION such as eye and lung diseases (by introducing more efficient cooking stoves creating less smoke)

- ILLNESSES CAUSED BY CONTAMINATED WATER such as diarrhea, parasites, cholera... (by introducing simple water purification systems working on solar power)

- ILLNESSES CAUSED BY LACK OF HYGIENE (by introducing solar water pasteurizing and heat capturing devices so that bacteria free water and food is longer kept and of better quality)

- HIGH FUEL COSTS FOR COOKING (by teaching people how to make their own fuel briquettes from waste materials, therefor lowering their daily costs of fuel (about 20% of daily costs). Fuels such as fire wood, kerosene and L.P. gas are becoming more and more expensive all over the world)

- OUTCASTS (by empowering and educating orphans, handicapped, blind, deaf, mentally retarded, people suffering from diseases or suffering because of an accident... FoST empowers them by education and teaches them skills enabling them to be independent and important to the community)

- TIME CONSUMING DAILY TASKS such as fetching wood for cooking (by creating more efficient cooking devices - cooking with briquettes and / or solar power)

-  DRUDGERY OF POOR WOMEN in rural communities in Nepal (by education and empowerment through sustainable and renwable technologies)

thanks a lot, Sandra Wijnveldt

To vote:  http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/cooking.php

For more info:  http://blog.gorpproductions.com/

http://www.gorpproductions.com/  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
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