Energy booster

Create energy while burning energy. That’s the idea behind a workout center that makes renewable energy as people exercise.

Students at the Ohio University recreation center can use any of 20 newly installed elliptical machines that generate electricity for the facility as students sweat. According to the school, 30 minutes on one of the machines, called a ReRev system, can provide enough energy to run an incandescent light bulb for 45 minutes or a CFL bulb for two and a half hours.

Similar efforts have already been underway across the country, such as at The Green Microgym in Portland, Ore. (see “Power workout,” Green, May 29, 2008). Ohio University is the eighth school in the nation to install the ReRev system.