Doesn't it make sense that you should be able to harness the power generated from pedaling a bicycle? The Green Revolution thinks so. One New York City gym has become part of their pilot program.
Eco-Snobbery Sucks says,
As you pedal, you can see how many watts you’re generating. Crank up the resistance, and your wattage shoots up, too. Not only is it a cool way to produce green electricity, but it’s also really great incentive to try to work harder each class to beat your previous numbers.
The electricity generated goes back into the gym’s power grid; Green Revolution says that over the course of a month, this one room of Spinner bikes generates about 300 kilowatts – enough to light a typical home for half a year.
This seems like a no-brainer and I can't believe it hasn't been done before. All of the kinetic energy being wasted at any given gym or health club could be harnessed to pump back into the grid.
I'm glad to see one creative company figuring out how to turn that form into function.
Jeffrey D
said on May 11, 2011
Twenty bikes at a gym over one month CANNOT power a house for 6 months. The actual number is closer to 15 DAYS.
Twenty bikes at a gym could potentially generate 300 kilowatt-hours of energy over the course of a month. I use about 600 kilowatt-hours of energy in my house each month, so it would only be enough to power my house for 15 DAYS.
One human can generate about 1/10th of a kilowatt of power or each hour they can generate 1/10th of a kilowatt-hour of energy. Twenty humans, five hours a day, for 30 days can generate about 1/10 kilowatt/person x 20 people x 5 hours/day x 30 days/month = 300 kilowatt-hours. This is enough to power a house about 15 DAYS.
Jeffrey Davis
said on May 16, 2011
The main thing i like about this story is that it is a really creative idea of a way to produce alternative energy...regardless of how the math ultimately plays out.