Like any movement, you have to expect a few unusual, out-of-the-box ideas to pop up from time to time. Well, here's one from Electrical Contractor Magazine (www.ecmag.com) that I thought was innovative and inspirational enough to share.

It doesn’t surprise me that there is growing interest in capturing kinetic energy to generate alternative power for other needs. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion (from moving muscle for example), and it makes sense in this day and age of "green." So the researchers at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, have done just that—they can capture energy from the movement of a person's knee! Max Donelan, head researcher on the project, is developing the technology for the common market. One minute of walking will generate 10 minutes of cell phone power or could power GPS locators, motorize prosthetic joints or an implanted drug pump. Their first use, however, is for producing power for artificial limbs. It's being compared similarly to hybrid cars, which can produce electricity from braking.

Personally, I am very happy to hear about this story. For a few years now I have been saying to my spin class instructors and gym owners that all of us in spin class should have our bikes hooked up to a grid that would collect all of our hard work, effort and tremendous energy output in order to run the lights, hot tubs and juice bar throughout the day at the gym. Just imagine how much money could be saved! If gyms were set up with a “Gymenergy” © system, everyone taking part in the capture of kinetic energy could potentially benefit from reduced-cost memberships, day passes or other perks depending on how many minutes were logged on a treadmill or step machine or in a spin classes per week. Not to mention the potential for the gym to actually make money on the energy it creates by selling the electricity back to the electric company.

It definitely could put a new twist on one's workout, that's for sure! Innovative times indeed.