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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Exercisers Boost Power Grid

Green tweak captures energy from popular gym equipment

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(Newser) – Exercise buffs who hop on an elliptical machine for half an hour can power a laptop for an hour with the generated energy, thanks to a tweak made by a young Florida entrepreneur. The technique takes advantage of a generator already built into a popular model of the cross-trainers. About a dozen organizations have started using the modified machines—and capture the muscle energy to power things like lights or to simply boost the power grid, the Daily Telegraph reports.

"We're not going to get off Middle Eastern oil by connecting up all the ellipticals all over the country," said the director of sustainability at the University of Oregon, which has 20 of the machines. "We bought it and installed it mostly because it's an educational opportunity. People will be on those things sweating away and it gets them thinking."

Students and faculty exercise on elliptical machines while producing electricity that is routed into the power grid at the University of Oregon student rec center in Eugene, Ore.
Students and faculty exercise on elliptical machines while producing electricity that is routed into the power grid at the University of Oregon student rec center in Eugene, Ore.   (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)
Fitness instructor Alicia Swift demonstrates how working out on a specially equipped elliptical machine generates electricity powering the lights in front of her.
Fitness instructor Alicia Swift demonstrates how working out on a specially equipped elliptical machine generates electricity powering the lights in front of her.   (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)
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Jes
May 18, 09 8:29 AM CDT
This is awesome, mostly because they are doing it for the right reasons. It isn't being done because of a deluded idea that an exercise bike or a light bulb can make a difference in energy consumption but to simply get people to think. Reply
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