Pedal Power at Oregon Universities

The Associated Press recently carried a story about a project at the University of Oregon to retrofit exercise equipment to generate electricity.

The story says that the amount of energy produced is “small,” but it seems significant for what is otherwise little more than a bunch of gerbil-wheel machines for people. “The university estimates that 3,000 people a day on 20 machines would generate 6,000 kilowatt hours a year, enough to power one small energy-efficient house in the Northwest.” The university consumes more than 2,000 times that amount, the story says.

Oregon State University has already hooked its own exercise machines. During a football game this fall, the two schools will compete to generate the most power. (The University of Florida’s pedal-power project is also mentioned in the story.)

The project cost $14,000, which the University of Oregon split with a local utility.