Power Play

Solar power, wind power, ocean wave energy -- all forms of renewable energy. How about treadmill power?

I co-owned a gym and I often wished we could harness the power folks create when they run or walk on treadmills and other cardiovascular equipment. I've been mumbling about this for years - and now it's happening! Here's an excerpt from the New York Times' Sunday Magazine, April 21, 2008; the "green issue" -

SWEAT EQUITY: Many people go to the gym to become more powerful. But at California Fitness in Hong Kong, an Asian-based subsidiary of 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, exercisers are actually powering the gym. The program, “Powered by YOU,” was conceived by Doug Woodring, a Wharton grad, and Lucien Gambarota, a French inventor, who run an alternative-energy company in Hong Kong. When a member begins to exercise, the machine she uses captures the energy she creates as electricity (which would otherwise be lost as heat) and uses it to run a light above the machine. Gambarota says that a person can produce 50 watts of electricity per hour working out at a moderate pace. “If you spend just an hour per day on a machine annually, you could generate 18.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity,” he says. That’s the equivalent of powering a three-bedroom home in New Jersey for 14 hours. Since the program made its debut last year, 13 exercise machines have been hooked up; the chain plans to extend the project to its 24 other clubs throughout Asia. ABBY ELLIN

For more "green" go here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20Live-a-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=gym+electricity&st=nyt&oref=slogin