Category Archives: Indigenous Knowledge

The Remarkable Dragon Spine Pump

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A Dragon Spine  (water ladder or in Thai rahad) is a low lift pump with sprockets that move a chain of paddles through a slanted trough. Water is lifted as the paddles push the water up the trough. Often sized for one person turning the wheel with push pull handles, but at times up to eight for rotary drives. The pump’s name comes from its resemblance to a dragon’s spine. The Dragon Spine pump has been used for millennia for irrigation and drainage and is still used by farmers in Southeast Asia. The Dragon Spine pump may have been first … Continue reading →

Introduction to Vertical Axis Wind Machines

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Wind energy is growing more economical and reliable. Vertical axis machines can help meet smaller, local needs for communities with limited resources.  These include pumping water, grinding grain, powering  workshops and in some cases, generating electricity. Learn about the two main types of vertical axis wind machines in this article: The lift type (eggbeater, helical and h-rotor) The Darrieus vertical axis wind turbines often has two or three thin, curved blades, depending on the model. These turn at higher speeds suitable for generating electricity but require much greater skill in design and engineering. The h-type is simply vertical blades. The … Continue reading →

Historic Vertical Axis Wind Machines: Lessons for Sustainable Energy

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Most people are familiar with horizontal axis wind machines. These include the charming Dutch and Danish water pumping machines, the smaller sail windmills of Portugal, Greece and other areas, the iconic multi-blade water pumpers of the American west (millions sold), and the ever larger and more expensive three-blade wind turbines being used around the world to generate electricity. Hundreds of different wind machine designs have been proposed, built and tested and innovation continues to this day. The vertical axis wind machines are less well known. These had been invented and refined hundreds of years before the horizontal axis machines. Two … Continue reading →

Jordanian Agriculture Throughout History – Achievements and Challenges

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Throughout history, Jordanian agriculture has been one of the main pillars that contributed to the formation of the economic and social identity of the region, and Jordan is one of the first regions to witness the emergence of stable agriculture in the Neolithic era (about 10,000 – 6,000 BC). The Jordan Valley and the Ain Ghazal region witnessed early cultivation of cereals such as wheat and barley and animal husbandry such as sheep and goats. The Ammonite, Moabite and Edomite civilizations developed agriculture in the bronze and Iron Ages (3,300 – 332 BC). Where they used primitive irrigation systems and … Continue reading →

The Remarkable Water Lifting Noria

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One of the challenges humans have faced for centuries is raising water to reach farm fields or communities. One of the most impressive, yet little known, solutions is the noria (Arabic: نواعير حماة, Spanish: azud). The noria is properly pronounced na’ura (singular) and nawa’ir (plural). Noria literally means “the growler” referring to the sounds made as the wheel turns. The wooden bearings, falling water, and stresses on the wheel create a symphony of noise and musical notes. The deepest notes are in the range of 120–170 Hertz. These remarkable machines are undershot water wheels with paddles on the rim pushed … Continue reading →

Natural Cooling with Evaporation and Night Sky Radiation

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Nowadays, architects, engineers and designers are ignoring the potential value of the most basic principles of natural cooling: Solar control (shade) Convective cooling Conductive cooling Evaporative cooling Radiant cooling In the first part of the article, solar control, convective cooling and conductive cooling were discussed in detail. When they cannot provide enough cooling then we may have to make use of evaporation. Evaporative Cooling The hottest areas tend to be dry and are ideally suited for evaporative cooling if water is available. When water is limited it can be used sparingly for just personal cooling. In general, direct evaporative cooling … Continue reading →

Staying Cool with Natural Cooling – Traditional Natural Cooling Techniques

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Natural cooling is particularly important as an economical method of keeping people comfortable and safe from extreme heat even in areas where there is no electricity or when the power grid fails. It also helps reduce peak loads and lowers the stress on generation and distribution systems. Natural cooling has been utilized for centuries and has only recently been ignored, most obviously since 1950, as mechanical air conditioning and electricity became artificially cheap. As a result architects, engineers and designers began to ignore the potential value of even the most basic principles of natural cooling. The traditional cooling methods are: … Continue reading →

Runoff and Floodwater Farming – Examples from MENA and American SW

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To better understand the options for runoff agriculture, below is a review of some of the imaginative and effective techniques developed for use of runoff and floodwaters in the MENA region and the American Southwest (SW). Experimentation and experience over more than 5,000 years led to remarkable systems that enabled people to live well even in some of the most arid environments. These systems can be built and maintained by local people using available tools. Two major goals are to hold the water back so it doesn’t run off and to concentrate the water so that even the most arid … Continue reading →

Runoff and Floodwater Farming in the MENA and SW North America

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When it rains some water enters the soil, the rest runs off. As it gathers strength it becomes the floodwater that runs through valleys, streets, arroyos and wadis after a rain storm. Sparse vegetation, little soil development, soil crusts, and low infiltration/absorption contribute to fast peaking flows in arid regions[1]. Storms lead to floods that may continue for minutes, hours or days depending on the rainfall. Flood depths of 5-10 meters may occur in extreme events. Residents in arid and semi-arid lands have developed a wide range of strategies to hold and capture critically needed water. In many cases floodwater … Continue reading →

Acequias for More Sustainable Irrigation: Rediscover an Ancient Technology

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Arid and semi-arid lands develop when climatic conditions create water limitations and the water lost through evaporation exceeds the water gained from precipitation.  Severe water limitations and climatic extremes make these arid and semi-arid regions very dependent on careful and conservative water management. Traditional practices that use only gravity to distribute water in these environments have been used for thousands of years, but have been little studied and are under-appreciated. These gravity-based canal systems are known as acequia (Spanish) and secondary and lateral ditches are called laterales, linderos, sangrias, or venitas. The head gates that divide and control water flow … Continue reading →

Qanats: A Sustainable Water Management Tool For Arid Lands

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Qanats are a remarkable system for managing water without pumps and with minimal evaporation even when water is transferred over considerable distances. A mother well starts the qanat and then an underground canal set at a minimal pitch carries the water for many kilometers until it comes to the surface. Some qanats were 70 km or longer.[i]  The sizes of the tunnel and wells vary widely from narrow, barely large enough to fit a person, to substantial. In less consolidated materials the access shafts may need to be much larger. The spacing of the access shafts may be 20-150 m … Continue reading →

Sustainability Principles in Traditional Islamic Architecture

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Islam came with many sustainability and environmental conservation principles, which appeared in all aspects of the Islamic society. This green vision of Islam is also reflected in the city planning and traditional architecture. Infact, Islamic cities were shaped by Islamic beliefs on environmental conservation and sustainability. The traditional house adopted in Islamic architecture respects the environment in more ways than one: first by minimizing the impact of harsh natural environment conditions such as hot climate, relative humidity and solar radiation intensity, second by maximizing the potential possibilities of these conditions to achieve the thermal comfort of inhabitants and utilizing the … Continue reading →