People Power

This website http://62.169.138.193/features/peoplepower_page2927.aspx has an excellent summary of how to produce power from human movement. Pity the amounts are minuscule. But this kind of thinking can lead to pervasive solutions...

clipped from 62.169.138.193 “When the DJ clears the room with cheesy Europop, he’s harming the planet in more ways than one.” Every step you take, every move you make, every spin of the pedals on an exercise bike – you’re generating tiny amounts of power. Now scientists are working out how to turn it into electricity. Chris Alden reports. The last year has seen an explosion of ideas on how to do just that. In Zanzibar, there are plans for a luxury hotel gym which will convert the effort you spend on its machines into electricity [see GF63, ‘Zero in Zanzibar ’]. In Hong Kong, inventor Lucien Gambarota has rigged up 13 exercise bikes to turn pedal power into watts.