suggestion for a debunk video: The pedal-powered generator - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: RickBrant
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 09, 2015, 04:30:26 pm
content: Of course, a pedal-powered generator will work. Butthese peopleare making purely ridiculous claims for the concept. The only way this will run "your home" for "24 hours" on one hour's pedaling (100 watt-hours output) is if your home has only a couple of small LED lamps and maybe a phone to be recharged.Ok, this thing is billed as a solution for poor villages where there's no electricity at all. And power for a couple of LED lamps and a smartphone would be a big improvement. (Where they will get LED lamps and smartphones, and what wireless service they can get, is another question, but never mind that.)BUT, the people in poor villages tend also to have a lack of food. Even if we assume 100% efficiency from pedals to end use, which of course will not happen, making that 100 Wh will require the pedaler to eat about 360 kcal more food than they were before. (Humans are about25% efficientin turning food calories into mechanical energy, and one Wh is about 1.1 kcal.) That's not a small energy expenditure for people who are already undernourished.The guy featured in this video made a fortune by inventing the "5 hour energy drink" and apparently has given quite a bit of it away to help fight poverty. That sounds terrific... but either he never learned basic physics or the people pitching this thing are lying to him.Only problem with covering this in a debunk video is that a) it's a ridiculously easy target and b) the guy has quite the following as a philanthropist and you'll likely be accused of attacking him rather than this silly "invention". (It isn't even an invention, as human-cranked generators have of course been around as long as generators have.)

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 12:39:10 pm
content: Talked about this on today's Amp Hour.

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 01:29:50 pm
content: Would be a good video: Dave on a bike for 1 hour with a huge power meter in the background...

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 04:12:49 pm
content: For five months a year I live off grid on about 100WH a day. This of course excludes refrigeration, cooking, and hot water as this proposal does. I can watch the news, listen to the radio, maybe a DVD movie and my wife can read with a LED lamp for two hours. I don't feel deprived. Solar lanterns have been provided for a while making a big difference in peoples lives. Bike generators have been around forever in the bush. No new technology here. The idea is more poorly conceived. Incidently when I live on grid the power company tells me I use double the electricity of my average neighbor in spite of all the LED lights, heat pump water heater, and using a wall switch to turn off the TV.

author: RickBrant
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 09:34:06 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on December 10, 2015, 12:39:10 pmWow. Fast service!

author: RickBrant
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 09:35:32 pm
content: Quote from: Seekonk on December 10, 2015, 04:12:49 pmSure, but were you making it by pedaling?Not that that isn't possible. It's just not feasible for people who are already not getting enough to eat.

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 09:59:13 pm
content: I'm old and fat and I spend 2 1/2 hours at a gym three days a week. 75W for an hour is not that strenuous. Thinking that is not possible for anyone is not realistic The bike idea is common for water pumps where it makes sense. Bike for electricity has been done before and never proved practical. This is not fraud. Just another do gooder with shit for brains.

author: RickBrant
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 29, 2015, 07:47:25 pm
content: Nobody ever said it wan'tpossible. Especially for someone who can afford to eat enough to be fat.FromWikipedia:QuoteBut the proponents are claiming to be able to produce 100 usable watt-hours a day. The actual energy input to the pedals would have to be more than that - call it 150 Wh - to cover losses in the generator, storage, conversion, etc.). Converting the units, that's about 125 kcal ("food calories"). The body is about 25% efficient in converting calories consumed to mechanical energy output, so this would require about 500 kcal of additional food consumed each day.You or I likely wouldn't have a problem with that, but in most of the places where electricity is not available in homes, malnourishment is also rampant. Expecting them to be able to come up withanother500 kcal/day is not reasonable.

author: torch
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 12:10:41 pm
content: Quote from: RickBrant on December 29, 2015, 07:47:25 pmYou are missing the big picture: once they have electricity to charge their cell phones, they will have the capability to order in a large pepperoni and cheeze pizza. Lots of calories there and after 30 minutes it's free. Problem solved.

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 07:40:01 pm
content: I think if you have a need for electricity then you are pretty affluent and a few calories is not a problem. 40W for one hour is only about 160 calories according to the exercize machine at the gym.

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 07:49:48 pm
content: The BBC did a documentary a couple of years ago when they had a family of four in a house with the whole place powered by people next door pedaling generators. IIRC there were more than 50 of them with a load of professional athletes and keen endurance riders pedaling. They made it to the evening before with the oven, lights, TV etc they couldn't supply the power required and the experiment ended.Don't recall the name of the program unfortunately.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2016, 08:18:17 pm
content: There was a thread about this last year:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/ride-a-bike-for-60mins-power-a-home-for-24-hours/TheBBC programwas called "Bang Goes The Theory"