Slashdot Mirror
Cows On Treadmills Produce Clean Power For Farms
separsons writes "William Taylor, a farmer in Northern Ireland, recently developed the Livestock Power Mill, a treadmill for cows. Taylor uses the device to generate clean, renewable power for his farm. Cows are locked into a pen on top of a non-powered, inclined belt. The cows' walking turns the belt, which spins a gearbox to drive a generator. One cow can produce about two kilowatts of electricity, enough energy to power four milking machines. It may seem like a kooky idea, but Taylor could be onto something: According to his calculations, if the world's 1.3 billion cattle used treadmills for eight hours a day, they could provide six percent of the world's power!"
Anyone who is perfectly capable of working, but who chooses not to and is on social assistance should do something similar. If they want their check, they need to run on a treadmill or peddle a bike or something until they've earned their money.
This would be a great benefit to most of the southern states in the USA. Large percentages of the population there are on social assistance (mostly provided by California and the northern states). At least now they'd be able to generate their own power, which will help cut down their own expenses, or they can sell that power to other states.
Not only that, but obesity is a huge problem in the states with the highest number of welfare recipients. Making them exercise even on just a bi-weekly basis would help trim them down to size. They'd be healthier, would consume less food, and might be in a better position to actually contribute to society for once.