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Bio-Power
How many appliances can our bodies charge?
I'm an active person. I go walking, biking, dancing, and practice yoga. Then I come home and collapse on the couch and read. If I'm really tired, I lie around watching television. But it's not like I'm not expending any energy. I have to work hard sitting at my computer to earn the money to pay my electrical bill.
So let's get this straight: I work out, expending energy that goes nowhere. And then I work, expending more energy so I can pay for the electrical company to pump in enough energy to power my computer while I work and my television when I rest.
Seems like a vicious cycle. What if the energy I expended working out provided the energy I needed to work? What if I could use my own bio-power to run my entertainment so I could spend less — and work less?
I've been fantasizing about this for the past several years, ever since I heard a story on NPR about an Iraqi grad student living in Los Angeles who powered his television with a stationary bicycle. Could I do that? Could I power my computer?
Today's story in TreeHugger about harnessing the energy of heaving breasts while running to charge an iPod got me fantasizing again. How much power could we unleash with our body parts (I mean, besides fueling the porn industry)?
Here are a couple answers from around the web:
I smell a summer project coming on. I'm going to go wake up my teenage son now to see if we can harness some of that energy he's sleeping away in the day to power the video games he fritters his energy away with at night.
I wonder how much power walking the dogs could produce ...
Celeste Fraser Delgado is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Worthy Causes. Her Do-Gooder blog appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.
So let's get this straight: I work out, expending energy that goes nowhere. And then I work, expending more energy so I can pay for the electrical company to pump in enough energy to power my computer while I work and my television when I rest.
Seems like a vicious cycle. What if the energy I expended working out provided the energy I needed to work? What if I could use my own bio-power to run my entertainment so I could spend less — and work less?
I've been fantasizing about this for the past several years, ever since I heard a story on NPR about an Iraqi grad student living in Los Angeles who powered his television with a stationary bicycle. Could I do that? Could I power my computer?
Today's story in TreeHugger about harnessing the energy of heaving breasts while running to charge an iPod got me fantasizing again. How much power could we unleash with our body parts (I mean, besides fueling the porn industry)?
Here are a couple answers from around the web:
- HowStuffWorks takes on the notion of bio-power for television and computers, with this great news: "A single 60-calorie chocolate-chip cookie could power a laptop for four hours!"
- This amazing site offers instructions to DIY BYO Pedal Power Bicycle Generator (pix on this site show bikers powering televisions on Ellen, so I guess my fantasy is pretty widespread). This do-it-yourself bike generator can power a blender, charge a cellphone, or run a small television.
I smell a summer project coming on. I'm going to go wake up my teenage son now to see if we can harness some of that energy he's sleeping away in the day to power the video games he fritters his energy away with at night.
I wonder how much power walking the dogs could produce ...
Celeste Fraser Delgado is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Worthy Causes. Her Do-Gooder blog appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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