Friday, February 20, 2009

Random

On a random treadmill, in some random hotel, in a random town, in a random part of the country, I had a random thought:

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We, humans, could be our own solution to the energy crisis. Think of all the calories that people burn exercising in gyms. Burn is a very appropriate term here, because it literally goes from chemical energy (calories) to brief kinetic energy (lifting weights, running on a treadmill) to heat energy (um, heat), which is also considered the least useful form of energy. So, we are taking good, usable calories and throwing them away (in the form of heat) without a second thought.

With the proper set up, however, we could use those calories to power generators by utilizing the kinetic energy, similar to using wind or water to produce electricity.

Think of it...

Body builders powering schools...
Spinners lighting up our streets...
Stairmaster-ers powering escalators...
Swimmers heating our homes...
Yogis cooking our food...
Rock climbers facilitating our light rail...
Bowflexers powering our TVs and computers...
Prison gyms powering our government buildings...

...And the best part is, the gyms would be making so much money from the energy produced, we wouldn't need to pay membership fees anymore!

But, here's the problem. When we humans use our energy and strengths to benefit another, it is no longer considered recreation or fun.

Now, it is considered work.

And while I may pay to exercise,

I don't work for free.

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Well, that certainly was random!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I could view paying gym fees and working out as fun/recreation. I'm sure I'd be in much better shape.

Did you see that article about the BYU students who installed a merry-go-round at a school in Africa which generates electicity for the school as the kids play on it?

Token Asian Friend said...

Genius!

Or is it Child Labor?

Anonymous said...

I didn't know one who participated in yoga was called a "yogi". Good to know.

Kristina P. said...

So basically, I would still be contributing nothing to the energcy solution.

Mary P said...

That would probably motivate me to exercise!

....hopefully...:(

Anonymous said...

When I showed my dad the aforementioned article, his comment was that if there had been such a thing while he was in school, he thinks he would have been sent outside to generate power a lot.

Brownie Bites said...

Think how much energy I create everytime I "blow up" "blow a gasket" "lose my cool" with my kids. :) Isn't that enough.

This post made me think of Monsters Inc.

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

great idea!

Anonymous said...

I had this idea. I ran it past my husband the chemical engineer. He says it wouldn't generate enough electricity to be worth the trouble.