| Human-Powered Gyms: For Your Health—and the Earth's |
| Friday, 17 February 2012 00:00 | Written by Victoria Cho | Article |
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Sustainable gyms have already appeared in Hong Kong, Australia and Oregon—and are spreading to Europe and other parts of the world. Using generators connected to exercise bikes and treadmills, the gyms are able to power themselves by harnessing energy from their members’ workouts. The First Sustainable Gym “One person has the ability of producing 50 watts of electricity per hour when exercising at a moderate pace, which means that to prevent 12 liters of CO2 from being released into the air, a person needs to produce the same amount of electricity by exercising on the specially setup machine for one hour. If a person spends one hour per day running on the machine, he/she could generate 18.2 kilowatts of electricity and prevent 4,380 liters of CO2 released per year. So exercise can improve not only your health but contributes to a greener environment.” The company initially set up 13 machines in its main club with plans to expand into other Hong Kong locations before going international. Other Sustainable Gyms In Australia, retired professional boxer Danny Moran introduced the generator-connected cycling machines at Surry Hills Boxing Gym. He encourages membership by reminding locals of Australia’s status as the second-fattest nation in the world and as the biggest carbon emitter per capita. By joining his gym, people combat obesity and block carbon emissions. How’s that for a great combination punch? How It Works Buy (or Build) Your Own If you prefer running over cycling, see Woodway’s energy-conserving treadmills. Their completely sustainable model, the EcoMill, contains a battery charged by the treadmill’s movement. Other Uses of Human Power Even if a sustainable gym or dance club doesn’t exist near you, and you aren’t yet ready to invest in a human-powered appliance, let these machines inspire you to reduce your carbon footprint and improve your health in other ways. For instance, you can save the world’s energy by using your own—through biking or walking to work, and taking the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator. Your body and the Earth will thank you, and so will future generations. Additional resources: Help the Earth, Spread the Word: Share this article with family and friends by clicking on the "Email This" or "Share This" links below right. Then see TODAY'S TOP STORIES. Copyright 2011-12 EcoHearth. All rights reserved. Reprint Policy
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(10)
Written by clara , April 16, 2013
rick shut up, they should be grazing on grass & flowers & herbs, without any biocides on them. they get all the exercise they need from being in their natural envionment
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Written by RKT , March 25, 2013
Hey rick, it would take more energy to raise and maintain the animals than your scheme would create--just growing and shipping their food alone would put you in an energy deficit. I prefer that we use less energy and generate what we do need from renewable sources (e.g., geothermal, wind, wave and solar).
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Written by rick , March 25, 2013
ENERGY FARMS..........THINK ABOUT IT.....
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PUT Horses cows pigs sheep...JUST ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WALKS ON A GENERATOR.....THEY HAVE TO BE HEALTHY TOO... WHILE PRODUCTION OF CLEAN ENERGY IS MADE...
Written by Tim , November 03, 2012
Actually, if you are a vegetarian (like I am), you exhale CO2, but the CO2 you exhale is net-zero carbon, because that carbon originally came out of the air to be stored in the food that you eat. This is different from fossil CO2 (such as coal, oil, natural gas emissions) because the carbon in fossil fuels did not come out of the air in a short time span. That carbon was taken out millions of years ago. The CO2 you exhale was taken out of the air up to a year ago. Still emitting CO2, but with much less impact. Human energy can be even cleaner than solar if you grow your own food and use a pedal generator for your energy needs. It's all about not using fossil fuels.
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Written by hiker , July 03, 2012
fun stuff..been building pedgens for years--i use a exersize bike..with a belt from the flywheel down to a treadmill motor or a ac coversion motor..so far i've hit up to 400 watts at 28 volts dc..
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or a easy 110 v0lts ac..just powering a small tv and a vedio player--no batts or converter--straight ac from the gen..watched over a hour tape[vhs]
Written by dweqe , May 15, 2012
This is the best post for anybody who wants to search out out about this topic. You realize a lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I truly would need…HaHa). You positively put a brand new spin on a topic that's been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!
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Written by Ajay Chole , March 12, 2012
Absolutely fantastic and interesting way of power generation!!
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Written by Herman A Pope , December 31, 2011
When humans exercise, they produce CO2
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You may save some burning of Coal, but you do not reduce CO2 by exercising.
Written by Don Carpenter , October 12, 2011
Good article and a fascinating idea! I'm going to forward it to some entrepreneurial engineering friends of mine.
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I must confess that when I saw the title I thought it was a review of bodyweight exercise programs like Charles Atlas or something.
Written by kattothyrst , June 28, 2011
I find this a great idea, never really thought about the potential for a gym, for example to generate some of its own power requirements from the exercise routines of its members. It's one of those "nice" set ups where through our own activity (to improve or maintain our good shape) we can give something back to neutralise our impact. I wonder what you could power at home. Just find the best ellipitical for home use and find a handy electronics sngineer!
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As we desperately search for alternative energy resources, one market has managed to capitalize on perhaps the most available and efficient source of energy around—humans.
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