Thursday, December 18, 2008

Going Green Ideas

Recently I read an article about how a rock concert was powered by people riding exercise bikes hooked up to generators. There were literally 6 people riding exercise bikes in the back of the concert that powered the amps, lights and PA system.

This is a pretty cool concept but if people run with this idea this could change the face of a lot of events. Here are some things that could change.

The New and Improved Tour de France:
Rather than riding through the alps the new format would simply have teams hooked up to generators. Each stage would consist of teams hooked up to trainers and generators and the first team to power a small French village would take the stage win for the day. This gives new meaning to the amount of watts a rider produces. Riders like big Thor Hushovd would have a huge advantage with this format. Check out the tree trunk power producing legs on this guy.



I could also see events powered by huge blocks of riders. Here’s a potential headline gone wrong. “Super bowl called off at half time due to bonking generator riders” Apparently, the Super Bowl organizers neglected to provide Gatorade and Power Bars to the riders and by half time they just plain ran out of gas. The organizers called this mishap a Gatorade malfunction.

This could also mean a new set of chores for the kids. In addition to cleaning the kitchen after dinner or mowing the lawn on the weekend kids could also be assigned to put in some generator rides to power the house. I can just hear it now. “Mom, I rode yesterday, Tommy never has to ride. It’s just not fair.”

I’m all for going green but this may not be a good idea after all. Never mind.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

Seems like the electricity used to power a concert is just a drop in the bucket of the total carbon footprint of that concert when you consider the tour buses, fans traveling to the concert, printing and sending tickets, and the non-fossil fuels getting burnt during the concert (if you catch my drift).

Anonymous said...

Oddly enough, over the summer I did a cornmaze where the theme of the maze was "Green Energy." Throughout the maze were displays to educate visitors about green energy options. One display was a bicycle hooked up to a generator (actual bike, not a excersize bike), and by riding it you could power a light bulb. Unfortunately, vandals in the maze had broken off the saddle and the pedals. But still it was very cool.