View Full Version : Great idea for clean energy
I was jogging once with a friend and we were discussing clean ways of generating power. I brought up this idea which I'v had for many years and the idea is:
All around the world, prisons have a building with many floors. all floors have a cycling machine. Prisoners ride these machines for hours, taking turns. Each cycling machine is a generator (it turns a magnet inside a coil of wires) and this electricity can be sent to cities or towns. It gives the prisoners something good to do and it's good for the environment. :nlol:
My friend laughed at the idea but to me it's a good idea. What do you people think?
It would also be good if gyms around the world could do the same with their cycling machines, so that less electricity is used from the powerplant. Ofcourse it would cost money to integrate all the cables and generators but a company like Finance, ahh.... i mean Fitness First would have no problem because they are stacked with money (that organisation is unbelievable)
FoxDie130
03-03-2010, 05:31 AM
Sounds like it would work, but getting thiem to do it may not be so easy!
Good job thinking of it though, I like it! :)
Joy Division
03-03-2010, 05:37 AM
I used to have a bike with a headlight that was powered by the front wheel turning. You could disconnect the gear that powered the light when it wan't in use. Man, it made the bike allot harder to peddle when that one small (15watt?) light was running.
I guess every little bit helps but with it might only be a drop in the bucket compared to our balloning engery needs.
Carcharodon
03-03-2010, 06:03 AM
This is interesting; i find myself thinking the same thing every time i pass by near the gym going to the pool.. if every tapis ruolant and cyclette had a dynamo with inverter connected you could light up the entire building and, maybe, even worm up the water in the pool ^^ As for the prisons, every guest could earn credits depending on how many Watts he/she produces for the community...
hahaha good idea! every 5km = 1 less day in prison, or maybe days reduced on parole.
ZenitYerkes
03-03-2010, 01:06 PM
Yeah, just like we did on the Ancient times: all prisoners used as slaves forced to make us a service. Instead of using them for mining or harvest, why don't we just put them on bikes and use them to bring us some electricity?
No, those could be killers but they're still are persons. Whether you like it or not.
Yeah, just like we did on the Ancient times: all prisoners used as slaves forced to make us a service. Instead of using them for mining or harvest, why don't we just put them on bikes and use them to bring us some electricity?
No, those could be killers but they're still are persons. Whether you like it or not.
i never mentioned the fact that they have to do it. actually, if they were to build such a system i would imagine they would gather the prisoners and ask them what they think. depending on the number of prisoners who like the idea the system would be built or not.
In some prisons the prisoners are given a puppy to raise, these dogs later can be addopted. It gives the prisoners something positive to do and it actually shows the prisoners true loving side. IS THIS SLAVERY? no i dont think so, so please.. no more negativity :nwink:
and not everyone in a prison is a killer
ZenitYerkes
03-03-2010, 01:19 PM
i never mentioned the fact that they have to do it. actually, if they were to build such a system i would imagine they would gather the prisoners and ask them what they think. depending on the number of prisoners who like the idea the system would be built or not.
In some prisons the prisoners are given a puppy to raise, these dogs later can be addopted. It gives the prisoners something positive to do and it actually shows the prisoners true loving side. IS THIS SLAVERY? no i dont think so, so please.. no more negativity :nwink:
and not everyone in a prison is a killer
I'm not being negative, I'm showing I'm just against any kind of forced work.
And I see a clear difference between raising a puppy and staying X hours on a bike to produce electricity.
Being practical, notice another thing too: if all the windmilling system can barely provide a constant and minimal level of energy, which is working 24/7, this system would need at least ten thousand prisoners working at the same time and turning themselves by hours. And if it's going to be optional, I think few people will choose to do it instead of just taking care of a dog or going to social integration programs.
EDIT: I know. Hey, I've been in a prison too providing help for an aid campaign; and not all the people there are killers. Some of them are even nicer than people I meet everyday at street.
I'm not being negative, I'm showing I'm just against any kind of forced work.
And I see a clear difference between raising a puppy and staying X hours on a bike to produce electricity.
Being practical, notice another thing too: if all the windmilling system can barely provide a constant and minimal level of energy, which is working 24/7, this system would need at least ten thousand prisoners working at the same time and turning themselves by hours. And if it's going to be optional, I think few people will choose to do it instead of just taking care of a dog or going to social integration programs.
OK i see, but imagine your a prisoner. think of this place as a gym. you can go there anytime to get exercise. If you choose to, not only do you get a workout but you also generate clean energy. Ofcourse this place would only be open during day because there are no lights inside so the building uses no electricity.
ZenitYerkes
03-03-2010, 01:30 PM
Then it wouldn't work to provide energy for a town or a little village, but maybe using that system to bring energy to the prison, it could work.
ViperWingLeader
03-03-2010, 02:24 PM
OK i see, but imagine your a prisoner. think of this place as a gym. you can go there anytime to get exercise. If you choose to, not only do you get a workout but you also generate clean energy. Ofcourse this place would only be open during day because there are no lights inside so the building uses no electricity.
Using no electricity would be cruel and unusual, and hence unconstitutional in the US.
And you cannot generate enough energy over a fare enough distance to make it worth it.
Remember to burn calories to make electricity, you have to give food to the inmate. The food has to be grown. The growing food needs water, light and fertlizer.
In the end what energy have you gained? You have to feed the inmates for increased calorie output, you have to grow more food, that destroys mopre land that leads to the rapid decline of the environment.
Congrats you plan wrecks the Earth more quickly than if we had just left well enough alone.
YOU CANNOT WIN
YOU CANNOT BREAK EVEN
YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE GAME
Seriously people learn some freaking physics.
Sun->Plant->food->people->muscle->pedal->inductor->wire-> battery->storage->use.
everytime you see a "->" you loose energy it is converted to an non-usable form...heat, light, whatever....
Using no electricity would be cruel and unusual, and hence unconstitutional in the US.
And you cannot generate enough energy over a fare enough distance to make it worth it.
Remember to burn calories to make electricity, you have to give food to the inmate. The food has to be grown. The growing food needs water, light and fertlizer.
In the end what energy have you gained? You have to feed the inmates for increased calorie output, you have to grow more food, that destroys mopre land that leads to the rapid decline of the environment.
Congrats you plan wrecks the Earth more quickly than if we had just left well enough alone.
YOU CANNOT WIN
YOU CANNOT BREAK EVEN
YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE GAME
Seriously people learn some freaking physics.
Sun->Plant->food->people->muscle->pedal->inductor->wire-> battery->storage->use.
everytime you see a "->" you loose energy it is converted to an non-usable form...heat, light, whatever....
WOOOOOOOOOOW calm down. yes i realize you need food and water for energy to pedal etc etc... However, in prsions the prisoners get fed (ofcourse). So if a prisoner eats lunch and goes back to his cell or goes and sits down somewhere, then that energy is not being used to full potential whereas if they decide to go for a bike ride then yes it would. AND if there were heaps of these bikes then im sure it would produce enough power to have a significant reduction in the energy bill of the prison. AND i also mentioned this can be implemented worldwide, not just USA.
And why is it cruel to not use electricity? This building is open during day and is designed so sunlight gets in and lights up the rooms. The only other use for electricyt would be speakers, fire alarm......... that's about it. I can't think of any other use of electricity
and it actually depends on where prsions are located. Obviously if they are far from cities then alot of power will be lost through heat. However if they are close then it could power a small area or maybe a set of street lights or something. it would also make sense to bury these cables to reduce heat so there is minimal resistance. The use of transformers can also be used to increase voltage. It would be like a small power plant.
But now that I think about it, it really would just be a good way to give prisoners something to do and the benefit is some green energy is made.
Wildfeatures
03-05-2010, 02:42 AM
Actually, Viperwingleader is right on this one.
It is one thing to store the energy available from gym equipment.
But to have an increased usage of them just for this purpose is not viable. The reason being that one uses less energy sitting down then the person would exercising.
This means that the inmates have to eat more to be able to keep pedaling.
Humans don't have the best design for using energy for movement alone. A lot of it is turned in to heat.
The extra food required would need more agricultural land. Additional pesticides would have to be created and spread using energy. The soil would have to be prepared for growing crops, which require energy. Fertilizers made from an oil-base would be produced and spread. Machines would put the seeds in to the ground, water would be pumped and possibly purified to water the crops, the crops harvested by machines, transported, processed, then transported again and finally cooked for a meal. It would be a lot more useful to use the agricultural land for growing bio fuels in the first place. But this solution is not a good one either. To be able to replace our non-renewable energy sources we would have to grow bio fuels on all of our agricultural land, and it still would not be enough. Not to mention that we would be out of food.
really? whenever i go for a bike ride i dont feel more hungry than usual. i think its better to eat after exercise rather than before because if its before then you are hungry after so its an extra meal.
and i think people are taking this idea in the sense that these prisoners are being "manufactured" just to do this job... well it's not a job, just something they can do for leasure. they don't need extra food, they just eat their normal meals. whats the difference between an inmate who rides the bike machine and one who decides to lift weights? nothing really, and the guy who lifts weights doesnt get an extra meal.
But i really think this thread should come to an end, a few people getting pissed off over an "idea" that may/may not work
Trailrunner
03-05-2010, 04:03 PM
Many prisons have gyms for weightlifting as a way for the prisoners to do somehting constructive with their pent-up energy, and I don't exactly see how this is any different. It probably isn't the answer for clean electric power, but there really is no "silver bullet" for anything, the answer will come from a mix of practices.
This is a disgusting idea.
Yeah let's turn all our prisoners into slaves like we did in the old days.
No thanks.
Turborabbit
03-05-2010, 09:55 PM
You know putting solar panals on the roofs of the prisons would make like 100000 times more energy than this, a person rideing at max speed can only make about 200 watts, give or take Thats like 5 feet of solar panel, and the prisoner couldnt ride for 12 hours a day either, However that said, I did see a stationary bike genorator in mother earth news, Seems someone rode it 45 minutes a day to charge his laptop at a cabin too far out to get electricity service. I think it had the chain attached to a car alternator, attached to a lead acid battery (like a cars) and finaly a dc to ac converter to regulate voltage to 110.