Manpower as a renewable energy source?

Question

with overpopulation an increased problem, and the world in need of a renewable energy source, isnt manpower a good source of energy (not in the matrix where we're used as batteries, but as in a physical job, cycling or something like that.

Answer 1

I love that as an idea! Like we could all have hamster wheels in our homes, and top it up as required. Although there would need to be other options available, for people who weren't physichally able to do so.

Answer 2

I am in school at KU. here we have a bicycle or "man powered vehicle" as they call it that will go 60mph. I can see something like this as an alternative to the common car.

Answer 3

how about this.....    fill the jails with stationary bicycles that are hooked to the power grid.   have the inmates bicycle in place all day with little generators on each bike....

Answer 4

Better that lets get all the prisoners to do it for free!

Answer 5

Have the prison population go like gerbils on a wire wheel.

Answer 6

Great idea, at the Big Green Gathering a few years ago i saw a whole stage powered by bicycles, fixed at the front and throughout the night the audience took turns to pedal, it was great fun.

Answer 7

Cool, lets make more laws, like, it's illegal to leave your house.

but first, make it a law that you have to have a energy-bike.

then, we could all be sentenced to life on a treadmill/bike.

we could put a bounty on illegal aliens.......you get a reward...and you can keep them!  Use them as your own energy sources.

Boy our founding fathers were such visonaries!  what where we thinking?

Answer 8

NO ! not as a source of energy

A man has an average power of something like 100W...    this is ridiculously small compared to the 6500 kWh per year on average a person in a developed country uses per year (=700W continuous power used).

So even with the best will, we would be busy 24/7 to provide power and it wouldn´t still be enough only for our electricity.

Have you ever turned a crank to power a 50W bulb??? Try it, I promise you that you won´t last very long.

BUT YES to avoid inefficient energy processes when possible:

e.g.: driving a car= moving two tons for a 80kg person.

80 liters of gas fuel is the energy a human would need to survive one year.

Answer 9

Regarding all the answers so far......

A human can sustain approximately 350Watts  for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.

The BIG problem we all face is not achieving the 700Watts per person average so we can continue to consume power as we are doing but actually decreasing our over use of power.

In my lifetime I have seen.....

The electronic (Transistor) revolution replace inefficient valves

Hybrid transport evolve (Electric, Fuel Cell, Solar PV)

Compact Fluorescent Lamps replace Incandescent Filament lamps (Resistive Element Lighting)

The rebirth of locally grown fruit and vegetables, cutting down on the reliance of fossil fuels (Diesel & Petrol) for transportation

Eco Homes and new building regulations cutting down heat losses dramatically

Domestic Wind Turbines Installed

Solar Hot Water Panels Installed to domestic dwellings, more recently the development of Solar Evacuated Tubes.

Much more yet more still needs to be done.........

To answer your question, to meet our goals we need to perhaps reduce our excessive power consumption in line with what we can sustainably produce that way the bike generator will be more than enough energy for each of our personal needs.

Does the landing light really need to be on? All the radiators on full? Heating on whilst you are out for the evening? 4 TV's all on in the house whilst you all sit in one room????

Hope this helps

Andy Mahoney

Home Brew Power

www.HomeBrewPower.co.uk

Answer 10

It surprises me that gyms don't use this, it would be quite possible to rig machines up to power their own systems, haven't worked out how much it would produce and if they might be any surplus to sell to the grid.

Get fitter and make energy. Could pay people to go to the gym...