People-Powered Hair Salon in Paris, 1945
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 07. 8.08
The electricity supply in Paris was pretty intermittent in the spring of '45, so an "ingenious beautician hires unemployed 6-day bicycle racers to peddle away on a bike, the back wheel of which is attached to a small generator! The current runs 6 driers." Charlie at Modern Mechanix doesn't buy it- "Hair dryers use a LOT of electricity." Having tried to keep a lightbulb going at the Ontario Science Centre as a kid was a lot of work; the Eco-Geek says that "the maximum output for a toned adult would be about 500 watts, but a sustainable level for someone like me (who's eaten his share of Whataburgers) is more like 150 watts"- six hair dryers? at minimum we are talking 6,000 watts. Not a chance.. ::Modern Mechanix
Now perhaps if we had an entire gym generating power:
Hong Kong Gym Harvests People- Power
Ask the EcoGeek: Muscle Power
Notions of Expenditure
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
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