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I built and operated a pedal powered generator [1] It's a regular bike on a stand, with a belt turning a 110v AC motor.

I can tell you, pedaling to making electricity is hard. It requires a lot of effort. On the flip side, if you told people they had to pedal before they could use the electricity for stuff like TV, xbox, etc., people would be doing those things a lot less.

I ended up giving it to a friend who powers his house with the bike, a 70W solar panel and three old car batteries :)

[1] http://theroadchoseme.com/smoothie-bike




You can ask people if they want some toast, are they as strong as Robert Förstemann (hint: no, they are not):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4O5voOCqAQ


Well, he could have toasted two slices - they didn't disconnect the second slot in the toaster.




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