At Drexel, when the new rec center was being designed, students suggested harnessing the exercise power and putting it back into the building. The school is an engineering powerhouse, so why not?
At first, officials didn't think it was workable, said Dan Simmons, senior associate athletic director. But then they found a Florida company, ReRev, that makes machines to do just that. They're big on college campuses, and some health clubs are generating power as well.
By now, Drexel has 14 elliptical machines - cross-training devices - that are hooked to a generator and inverter. When students work out, they generate power that goes back into the building.
A typical session of half an hour on the machine generates enough electricity to power a desktop computer for 15 minutes, a laptop for 30 minutes, or a compact fluorescent bulb for 75 minutes.
Or - parents take note - a TV for seven minutes.
Given the concerns about obesity and couch-potato kids, what if a family could hook up its TV to a human-powered generator, and the thing would work only when someone was exercising?
OK, so we won't be decommissioning any power plants. But still, power plants are abstract to most people. Human power is a vivid lesson in how much power we use and all the effort it takes to generate it.
Drexel also has stationary bicycles with plugs to charge a cellphone.
The other day, Jessica Norman, director of health, fitness, and wellness for the rec center, had to pedal away for two minutes on one of the bikes to increase the charge on her iPhone from 58 percent to 59 percent.
"I might be here all night," she joked.
But students say they love the new equipment, and Simmons is impressed. "It shows what's possible," he said.
This has been a seductive notion for a while. It captures a certain zeitgeist.
