The Hobby Horse
16 September 2008
Have you ever thought of riding a bike to work whilst stuck in traffic gridlock?
Many have, often deciding against the idea because it seemed like too much work or the travel distance was too great. Well, this may just be the solution you were looking for.
In our quest to reduce global pollution many inspired inventors, scientists and ordinary people have come up with some amazing and innovative solutions to some of modern life’s everyday requirements. From apartment worm composting to building roads from pop bottles, we are really “stepping up to the plate” and creating functional alternatives to our polluting ways.
A ray of sun
For Mike Hills of New Ipswich, USA, designing a “green” means of transportation for the average urban commuter is his way of peddling a greener future. Initially intending to capitalize on what he sees as a niche market, Hills is encouraged by the fact that his product has relatively little environmental impact and has the option of producing no greenhouse gas emissions once assembled.
“There is a market to be filled here. It’s not something a giant corporate automaker can take on because they think they can’t generate enough sales and they’re not even sure that there is a market. We, however, can survive on a small production operation… then of course, there’s the fate of the world as dictated by the state of the environment, but that it is improving as a result of our product is a happy fringe benefit.” says Hills.
Using modern technology such as electric motors and photovoltaic cells (solar panels), Hills and his 4-member team at Solar Bicycle have been transforming the ordinary street bike into a vehicle capable of transporting its rider for up to 100 miles at 30 miles per hour - without a single turn of the crankshaft!
On a cloudy day, however, the distance is reduced to 20 miles without pedaling.
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