3 ms·
Let's say a person outputs 500W and we can somehow capture all of it. That would be 10cents worth of electricity in an hour. Note that these are very generous
by jck 4y ago
Let's say a person outputs 500W and we can somehow capture all of it. That would be 10cents worth of electricity in an hour.
Note that these are very generous estimates, but it does demonstrate how silly the idea of trying to generate electricity by capturing exercise output is (in a purely economic sense).
- a9h74j 4y agoYes, and the Wired graphic was particularly misleading in that it showed, as I recall, multiple dollar amounts accumulating on per-session treadmill displays. On the other hand, it is possible to imagine lifestyles enhanced by various 10W contributions. 10W for heated clothing. 10W for a laptop. 10W average to power a several km electric bicycle or Aptera-size commute. And so on.
- Flashtoo 4y agoThis isn't exactly what you are talking about, but this art/concept for self-powered student housing came to mind: https://www.humanpowerplant.be/human_power_plant/human-powered-student-building-plans.html https://www.humanpowerplant.be/human_power_plant/human-power...
- benj111 4y agoIn their defense this could be seen as a type of gamification. Ultimately you can put any dollar amount on a kWh of electricity. It's the kWh generated that matters. Not saying it's a good defense though.
- pxndxx 4y agoHow are you proposing we produce 10W to heat clothes? we produce around 80W just by sitting idle, just wear insulating clothes! How do you produce 10W to power an electric bike? 10W is a laughable amount of power, just get rid of the electrics and pedal a bit. 10W is barely enough to charge a phone these days. Anything that gets moderately hot while in use is consuming more than 10W.
- a9h74j 4y agoe.g., s/lifestyles/post-collapse lifestyles/ Based on Ali Express, heated clothing (5V power in a pocket) is popular enough in China.
- WJW 4y ago500W is an extremely high number as well. Pro cyclists can reach up to 400 Watt in short bursts, untrained people typically can't maintain more than 100-150W for long. We really use quite a lot of energy when measured in how many humans it would take to provide that much energy "manually".
- anon_123g987 4y agoWhile it's true that the power of a human is not much (certainly not enough to power a house), but we have a lot of energy. Most of us carries at least 1 kg (~2 lbs) fat, which contains ~37 MJ of energy. For comparison, a stick of dynamite has ~1 MJ of energy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat#Biological_importance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat#Biological_importance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite#Form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite#Form
- Merad 4y ago> Most of us carries at least 1 kg (~2 lbs) fat It's a lot more than that. Even a fit (healthy, but not necessarily peak athletic shape) adult man will have about 15% body fat, 20% for a woman.
- trelane 4y agoWhy stop there? The matter itself is energy, so combine a human with an anti-human....
- BizarroLand 4y agoSweet oblivion looks just like me
- yetihehe 4y ago> Pro cyclists can reach up to 400 Watt in short bursts I heard pro cyclists can reach up to 2kW. I managed to make 500W on a rowing machine for 5 minutes, but I'm a couch potato. I believe 400W is a normal rate for cyclists. When you are sitting, your body already produces about 100W of heat.