A while ago I heard about pedal-powered smoothie makers. Nice gimmick, I thought. But do they really have any practical application? And then, a couple of months later I found myself entranced by a programme on the BBC following a team of cyclists on static bikes hooked up to a generator creating enough electicity to power a whole household. The amount of effort they had to put in was pretty impressive - when simple things like baking a cake or using a hairdryer are expressed in terms of human energy it all seems like a lot of hard work! But then again, it's a good way to combine exercise with renewable energy.
And now the bike team and volunteers at Action 21 are going to build a pedal-powered electricity generator. I'm really looking forward to it! I wonder what they'll come up with...
What do you think? Is pedal-generated power something we should all be thinking about? Does it have a future?
There's a meeting on Friday 26th Feb at the Cricketer's Pub in Leamington Spa from 4pm-6pm for all interested in building a pedal-powered generator. If you're not already an Action 21 volunteer, please email Laura@action21.co.uk or call 01926 453030 for more information about this project.
