(Pedal) Power to the People

I was fortunate to attend the exciting 2008 Chicago Green Festival at Navy Pier on May 17-18. Over 350 businesses and organizations exhibited, demonstrating the large existing amount of economic activity related to "green" business, as well as the enormous potential in that area. A plethora of organic, local, healthy, recycled, and/or renewable products were on display, from solar hot water heaters and residential wind turbine systems to cosmetics, handbags, and energy foods. There were also over 150 different speakers and entertainers during the weekend. Co-sponsored by Global Exchange and Co-Op America, the event was well worth the admission (discounted to $10 if you took public transportation there), and I'd highly recommend attending similar happenings for a thought-provoking and inspiring time, interesting for the whole family. Shown below (click the arrow to play the video) is a demonstration at the fest of a bike-powered generator that debuted on Discovery Channel's "Planet Green." Each cyclist is generating the electricity needed to run a desktop computer CPU and monitor, as well as, I believe, reserve power for a battery. The rear wheel of an ordinary bike, mounted on the stand, generates AC power via the power inverter. The system is portable or you can keep installed in your home for generating emergency backup power. You can get this 700W kit complete with 33aH battery storage ready-to-go for $1,900 from Pedal Power Generators LLC; similar systems may be put together using magazine or online resources and a little ingenuity, such as the kit at scienceshareware.com. Compare the cost of gas generators — and this requires no gasoline. It would pay for itself if it kept your basement dry in a blackout/flood situation. The idea of linking power to one's own effort is intriguing on a number of levels. For example, you could link this system to the family PlayStation, so that the time spent playing video games was directly related to how much exercise was put in...one way to combat couch potato syndrome. I have had the idea for a while of powering a whole health club with the energy from stationary bikes...