Turbike.org“When will it have paid for itself?”
Someone always asks this question whenever a non-conventional method of electricity generation is being discussed. So, in order to help you calculate whether it’s financially worthwhile to make one, you might reasonably expect me to outline
- the cost of materials
- cost of construction time
- my watt-per-hour/km pedalling output
- and then compare that total cost with the cost of mains electricity.
Sorry to disappoint you. But I believe that providing such info only panders to, and assists the development of, a mindset that I believe is stifling collective progress toward a greener way of living. Namely, the widespread and almost exclusive application of the “payback” criteria to green, ecological choices and behaviours.
“Pay me back. If you’re green!”
When presented with almost any other purchasing choice people do not take financial payback time into account. Yet when presented with something like the turbike that can simultaneously:
- save them money the moment they start using it
- yield increasingly valuable savings over time (the retail price of grid-electricity will always increase while the purchasing power of money will always decrease; therefore the relative financial worth of every self-produced watt will always increase)
- give them a source of electricity that is impervious to grid-outages
- reduce their involvement with, and thus their implied endorsement of, the coal, oil, gas and nuclear industries
- increase their aerobic fitness…
… they hesitate and ask “when will it have paid for itself?”. Yet, strangely, they remain unconscious that they did not ask that same question when they invested in (and continue to invest in!) their:
- mains electricity supply – incl. hook-up fee, monthly service fees (quaintly termed “standing charges” in Ireland), steadily rising cost of electricity units…
- house – incl. mortgage, auctioneers fees, council rates, insurance, heating, maintenance of paint/roof/chimney/plumbing/lawn/garden/veg plots, DIY…
- car – incl. road tax, insurance, tyres, servicing, parts, diesel/petrol…
- computer – incl. external hard drives & other peripherals, anti-virus, insurance (if any), fuel*…
- TV – incl. cost of set, cost of satellite dish / box, monthly subs, license (if any), fuel*…
- dishwasher – incl. consumables like tablets, rinse aids, fuel*…
- washing machine – incl. washing powder, fabric softener, water softeners (if any), fuel*…
- clothes dryer – including fuel*…
- electric shower – incl. mats, loofahs, shelving, shower gels, soap, water (if paying water charges), fuel*…
- land line telephone – incl. installation fee, telephone, line rental, answering machine/service (if any), call costs…
- mobile phone – incl, cost of phone, covers, subscription, time calling support, replacing lost/broken chargers, fuel*…
- broadband – incl. cost of aerial, router/modem, wiring, network hubs, monthly subscription, fuel*…
- any other item they’ve ever bought in their lives… (e.g. coats, shoes, books…).
So people don’t ask. So what?
If people only apply the ‘payback’ criteria to non-grid / micro-power-generation then the only thing likely to motivate them to reduce grid reliance is money.
However, as the vast majority of us do not notice – or react to – slow gradual changes, the steadily rising cost of grid electricity is not provide sufficient impetus to motivate people into finding ways to produce their own power. Meanwhile the steadily increasing financial and environmental costs of grid-delivered electricity will continue to rise… because our worldwide demand for electricity is going up.
Of course, there are financial realities to consider. Like maybe not having the cash right now to construct a turbike, or buy a photo-voltaic panel. If that’s the case for you, perhaps might still help make a difference and at least ask people who only apply the payback criteria to green electricity, why they’re doing so.
Or, alternatively, ask them to start applying the very payback criteria to ALL of their purchasing choices. Not just the green ones!
“Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them. ” Einstein (possibly).
* Otherwise known as ‘electricity’. In comparison, fueling the turbike will only require a slight increase in your daily water and food intake. So the cost of fueling a turbike compares very favourably with the cost of fueling all those devices in your life that will NEVER save you money by producing electricity for you!
