Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2014. It is a news item, and the description of Pedal Power as a small company receiving orders reflects its status at that time.
For some time now, we’ve been warned about the health risks for all of us who work sitting down and spend hours in front of a computer. A group of New York entrepreneurs came up with the idea of designing a bicycle desk (a desk with pedals) that generates electricity while we pedal. The small company (for now) is called Pedal Power.
The energy produced by pedalling is enough to power a computer, charge a phone or handle other office tasks. According to its creators, the best thing about the invention is the design of the “contraption”: it’s shaped so that we can pedal and keep doing whatever we were doing, while staying stable.
Watch: Pedal Power bicycle desk on Vimeo
Part of what drove these entrepreneurs to design such an original product was the oil and energy crisis. Steve Blood, one of the founders behind this business idea, had been thinking about the impact on the planet and what was being done about it, as reported by Business Insider. So in 2008 they got to work on this invention, which goes far beyond the office.
As the video shows, it’s already being put to very different uses, such as pumping water, splitting firewood or blending food. In short, it’s an ideal invention for cutting costs wherever electricity doesn’t reach.
For now, Steve Blood is happy: they’re getting orders from various mountain areas, so the “bicycle desk” is already a very profitable business.
Further reading: The 7 technology trends for 2014
Featured image: Flynn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
