At a UK festival this summer I had a bicycle-powered smoothie. You pedalled on-the-spot on a bike with a bottle dynamo attached and this powered a blender with your fruit in it. Very satisfying and it got me thinking about how bicycle power and other forms of energy I produce anyway might help to lower my carbon footprint with a bit of planning.
Set out this morning on a mission to buy a dynamo-powered light for my bicycle. I've been cycling around with no front light and a back-light in a washing up bag (swinging from the handlebars) for long enough. I feel like I've tempted fate and as the days get shorter it's just one more excuse not to cycle.
So here I am at the bike shop and it sinks in that I can buy a rechargeable front light for £29 or spend £167 on a light/dynamo-power-supply/new wheel-retrofitted-to-dynamo combo. The final straw was the weight of the dynamo. It kind of negates having a light bike to start with. So I bought the cheap unsustainable option and it's got me thinking about what people will be prepared to pay for green power. Probably no more than the price differential between regular and "organic" food in a supermarket. Pedal power has some ways to come.
Next stop, to see what options there are for getting my computer electricty supply off the grid. A lot of pedalling would be required!