We've tried wind power, water power, light power, flower power etc... But why not try...?

Already done... In Japan, certain gyms have their treadmills hooked up directly to dynamos that generate power from the runner's motion. Too bad this hasn't caught on in the States yet...

nope not stupid...alternative thinking is never stupid. Otherwise we would never have got planes off the ground! I would love to see the recycling of human waste...high in methane producing enzymes...now there would be a good excuse for a curry and beer the night before "I have to get to work quick tomorrow hon' so book us in at the curry house!"...sounds good to me!

Well it use to be a punishment to run around in a human/mouse wheel but now it could be the ultimate gym experience; and for those that don't have a good sense of balance you could connect dynamos to exercise bikes like they did on Red Dwarf.

Yeah you could get the local criminals to do it as part of their punishment

Not stupid but, impracticable, I think the energy used would far outweigh the energy produced.

I have thought of that too...I am glad to see that it is being done some places. I like the idea of companies having workout equipment that captures energy from the person working out and turns it into energy to help power the building.

erm - it would only work for people wanting to loose weight. otherwise you'd have to feed the runners loads, and food is much more energy consuming then the running would ever give out - we're just too inefficient.

nah they should do that in lesuire centres on their excercise bikes.. =)

This is actually an interesting problem in the history of technology. The problem is that we are, as creatures, not very strong and are easily distracted. The invention of the modern horse collar horse collar around the end of the Roman Empire pretty much eliminated human power as a practical proposition except in special cases, e.g., warships where rowers could double as fighters. Human power was certainly used for punishment purposes, and power from the treadmills of state penitentiaries in the US and elsewhere was sold to industrial firms until perhaps 1900. But horses are way better than people: they're incredibly strong, need only minimal supervision, and don't get into fights with each other or their overseers. Mules are better than horses, and steam engines are better than mules, because they don't get sick and don't need to be fed and elaborately sheltered when not in use.