Got a Supercomputer? Run It By Bicycle!
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island 
on 12.21.07
We've already seen some interesting entries as part of the Innovate or Die contest sponsored by Specialized and Google, the aim of which is to "invent and build machines that transform pedaling energy into new and useful purposes." Now, those clever folks at MIT have upped the ante by using bicycles to power a supercomputer for 20 minutes, setting "a new world record for human powered computing." A group of spandex-clad graduate students generated 1,200 watts, enough to allow the computer to run models as part of research into the possibility of "harnessing the energy creation processes of the sun. . .open[ing] the possibility of limitless energy."
In the above video, a student points out that while nuclear fusion is a potential source of clean energy in the distant future, bicycles are "already a clean energy source that allows people transportation throughout cities and around the country." How about that? Using the world's most energy-efficient vehicle to power an efficient computer to do research on future sources of energy, all while recognizing that we already have the technology needed to solve climate change.
Via: ::Nature.com
See Also: ::Innovate or Die, ::Trek Lime: Juicy Green Bicycle, ::Wee Laddies Give Green Supercomputing a Go, and ::Computer System Runs on Just 8 Watts
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How much human energy are the riders expending to power this super computer? How much food and water are they going to have to consume? How much gas/electricity/etc did it take to produce the food that they are now using to power their bodies???
two answers for "Doesn't Matter":
A) a heck of a lot less than a coal fired plant
B) they were going to go for a recreational ride anyway, so 'zero'
I just love this. Obesity is a critical problem in the western world, dirty energy is a problem worldwide. Human powered generators have the potential to alleviate both problems at once.
Think about how many health clubs there are and how many people drive to them. Or how many overweight office workers there are who can't quite find the time or the money to join a health club. Think of all the commuters who will not cycle because it's too dangerous and/or impractical. Knowing they’re saving money and helping to save the earth could just provide that critical motivation.
If companies could fix up an office area for workers to put in their half hour a day of exercise, be it bicycle, treadmill or climbing wall, they'd not only have fewer health costs, but potentially enormous energy savings.
Same for the home. It would be revolutionary if just one station could be set up for most households. All that time wasted watching TV (or on the computer) could be put to use for exercise and saving on electric bills.
Call me wild-eyed and crazy, but I bet even a health club chain that was set up to manufacture people powered energy would have people flocking to it.
Fit folks, more clean energy. What's not to like?
I have imagined the perfect gym where all the equipment turns generators instead of lifting weights or creating heat. Users put in a card and the amount of energy they produce is subtracted from their gym membership dues. There would be a lot of incentive to workout until you have paid off your monthly dues. I bet the bikes would be most popular because there they are the easiest to generate energy.
They are using a Kill-A-Watt.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/05/killawatt.php
The problem with this article is of course that the students were consuming carbon based fuel and emitting carbon dioxide. The comment that the few students who participated emitted less CO2 than a million kilowatt coal-fired generator shows how easy it is to be deceived by the appearance of innovation without really having a solution to the problem; the power plant serves thousands of customers, while the students ran one computer. I’m sure it was fun, and probably the students learned something from solving the practical problems of actually making their equipment work, but presenting it as a green alternative to coal fired power is greatly overstating the case.
OTOH, if, as has been suggested in the comments, this could really be co-generation, the production of power along with other useful results, then we might have something. Over 40 years ago, at the first company where I worked, we had our own generators to provide electricity for the chlorine plant, and the steam coming out of the turbines was used for heat and power in various places throughout that plant and others. When most of the northeast USA was dark in November of 1965, our lights stayed on because we did not depend on the rest of the world for power, but aside from occasional problems like that, our advantage was in utilizing more of the energy from the incoming fuel. When fuel was cheap, it made some sense for the utilities to condense the steam with river water or cooling towers instead of selling it to heat and cool buildings, but we should realize that we are throwing away energy when we do that (not to mention possible detrimental effects on the river’s ecosystem from the increased temperature). Since people already use stationary bicycles for the express purpose of consuming energy, and presently dump that energy into fans or other machinery to provide resistance, there is no reason why that energy could not be converted to electricity.
Dick Hatzenbuhler
Deering, NH
One my friend and I thought up this idea where you actually get paid to work out.
It just seems ridiculous that ppl pay exorbitant amounts of money to give you the privilege of using up your energy.
Why can't we have it so they pay you for powering the lights or something!?
well turns out electricity is really cheap and people are not very energy producing. :)
this is not a comment but a question.
Anyone know what I would need to make this TV bike set up myself. I already have Road Bike, stationary bike platform and TV.