240: Human-powered power generation

However, they then considered that if they wanted most people in the country to use electricity in the future, and not extensively develop thermal power, it might require a large amount of star energy stone.

After all, there's a conversion rate issue with these energy sources; while coal for thermal power needs to be made from star energy stone and thus consumes star energy stone, it produces a lot of coal.

Then, using this coal for power generation produces far more electricity than directly making batteries, and it consumes less star energy stone.

Therefore, it's best to generate electricity through other forms.

At this point, everyone thought of human power generation again, wondering if human power generation could be set up on a large scale.

After all, human power generation has no pollution, and power generation can be more flexible.

So, Mr. Number Three asked Xu Bai about the specific details of human-powered generators and whether there could be other forms of human power.

Although human power generation is good, Xu Bai felt it couldn't be used on a large scale.

Human power generation is divided into rotary generation and reciprocating motion generation; the former can be divided into hand-cranked and pedal-powered types, while the latter is divided into press-powered and swing-powered types.

However, no matter what, human power generation has one common drawback: the electricity it generates is temporary and limited, because how can one person constantly exercise to generate electricity for long periods every day?

What about setting up a gym?

After all, many people ride exercise bikes, and the electricity generated could be stored.

No, people's lives aren't good enough yet to spend money on fitness.

Sometimes they don't even want to walk, let alone go to a gym to ride a bicycle—that would be foolish!

Xu Bai quickly suppressed this inappropriate thought.

Or perhaps setting up experience halls in shopping malls, specifically for human power generation?

But if that were the case, the number wouldn't be particularly large; perhaps the total electricity generated wouldn't even be as much as a single wind power station—a drop in the bucket.

At the same time, people might try it out of novelty at first, but over time, it might become just a display.

This idea was also rejected by Xu Bai himself.

What other methods are there then?

What methods can get many people to generate electricity?

Xu Bai racked his brains but found no clues.

After all, in his previous life, human power generation was not a mainstream energy source; it was more often used for emergencies, popular science, and special environments.

For example, it was used in remote areas where electricity couldn't reach, or when there was a sudden power outage, and so on.

But now, what's needed is large-scale human power, and this power cannot interfere with people's production and daily lives, meaning it cannot be treated as a job.

Large-scale human power!

At this moment, Xu Bai suddenly thought of shared bicycles.

He had a very deep impression of shared bicycles, after all, the deposit for the Ofo bike had not been refunded to him, and he felt he would never get it back in his next life, given the queue time.

At a rate of 50 refunds per day, he would have to wait three or four hundred years; queuing at the King of Hell's palace would be faster than this.

And now, he was in another world, so he definitely wouldn't get it back.

Alas!

Although Ofo didn't do well, its collapse seemed to be due to issues with fund management and operations, not because the concept itself was bad; bicycles are still very convenient.

If there were public bicycles, many people would automatically ride them, which would be equivalent to automatically providing human power for electricity generation.

With so many people, a lot of electricity should be generated, so this idea is highly feasible.

However, Xu Bai wasn't thinking of letting Thunderbolt Company handle it, as there were no smart devices yet, making real-time monitoring of payment for riding and returning bikes impossible.

Also, Thunderbolt Company didn't have enough people to staff parking spots for manual collection of fees; the money collected might not even cover the wages of the hired staff.

The last reason was that Xu Bai himself didn't have a good impression of the concept, so he didn't want to pursue it.

In summary.

Xu Bai thought of letting the Government handle it; Thunderbolt Company could serve as an auxiliary, providing some funding, which would also advertise Thunderbolt Company.

The Tianlong Republic could set up public bicycles in major cities, and these bicycles would not only allow ordinary people to use them for transportation but also generate and store electricity while being ridden.

Thinking of this, Xu Bai brought up the idea.

His plan was as follows: the Government would provide bicycles for public transportation; these bicycles could be free or have a unified payment system, for example, monthly payments based on a pass, or annual payments for easier management.

Fixed parking spots would be set up for the bicycles, supervised by dedicated personnel.

These jobs could be given to retired elderly people, which would also create employment opportunities, and such work would not be particularly strenuous.

This job could be suitable for people with limited mobility or the elderly.

When people use the bicycles, they generate electricity for them.

After the bicycles are returned, dedicated personnel would remove the charged batteries and provide them for charging nearby public facilities.

The Tianlong Republic has so many people, and not everyone can afford a bicycle.

These bicycles would both convenience them and provide a significant amount of electricity, forming a virtuous cycle.

At the same time, Xu Bai naturally considered the possibility of bicycles being stolen.

He told Mr. Number Three that the charging bicycles would not be sold to the public for the time being, only provided to the Government, so if someone rode a bike home, it would immediately be noticed by others.

Mr. Number Three was very satisfied with Xu Bai's suggestion and said he would make good arrangements.

Everyone's tightly furrowed brows, due to the pollution issue, relaxed because of Xu Bai's proposal.

This was indeed a good method; it not only solved part of the power generation problem but also addressed the issue of public transportation and employment, killing three birds with one stone.

However, Xu Bai did not stop there but continued to ponder.

He had just thought of ways to promote rotary power generation, and for reciprocating motion power generation, Xu Bai thought of laying power generation panels underground, preferably in high-traffic areas.

This way, many people would step on that spot, and every time someone stepped on it, electricity would be generated.

This suggestion was also approved by everyone, and they all proposed places where human-powered generators could be installed, such as shopping malls, playgrounds, hospitals, and train stations.

Seeing everyone take the issue of human power generation more seriously than thermal power generation, Xu Bai felt a sense of relief.

This matter should not lead to excessively severe pollution problems, and he would also keep a close eye on it, as he certainly didn't want the environment he lived in to worsen.