Mastodawn

FACT*: If every Peloton user added their wattage back into the grid, their workouts could contribute 0.25% of all US electricity demand.
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*Sources: annual Peloton workouts from Statistica; average wattage per workout and overall US electricity consumption from ChatGPT.

Nate Jan 27, 2023

Weirdly thinking all day about the insane amount of energy many of us put into exercise and how rad it would be if we could try and capture it for the grid. Biking and rowing are the easiest to imagine how to harness. Running seems really tough. Weight-lifting would be on the easier side of things.

Nate Jan 28, 2023

For anyone wondering, ChatGPT's error was fairly basic: It managed to cite consumption at "4,178 billion kWh" but then when it did division it used 4.178 billion. Only off by 1000X. Good back and forth with @kfury here https://mastodon.social/@innonate/109764341818298776

Kevin Fox Jan 28, 2023

@innonate That’s amazingly conversational. ChatGPT is kinda scary.

@innonate i think the first episode of black mirror was about this

Nate Jan 27, 2023

@zzzeek sheesh you’re right. inception or destiny?

@innonate i dont remember i wasn't paying close attention to that show

stephen judkins Jan 27, 2023

@innonate no, human energy output is almost immaterial compared to our energy consumption. Not a thing

jakobdorof Jan 28, 2023

@innonate @stephenjudkins yeah. too good to be true

Matt Lehrer Jan 27, 2023

@innonate https://youtu.be/gVwumvznDxY

This Is SportsCenter (2003) Promo - ESPN - Lance Armstrong

YouTube

Nate Jan 28, 2023

@mattlehrer exactly

Hisham Jan 27, 2023

@innonate I instantly assumed this was a joke because you backed a "FACT*" with something out of ChatGPT, but then you had a follow up toot talking about it seriously, so now I'm confused.

Nate Jan 27, 2023

@hisham_hm It’s because I am also half way between taking this seriously and not. Like, this cannot be right (not only because the math came from ChatGPT, but also because there’s a lot of friction in that wattage that can’t be put into the grid). But also, kinda interesting to think about all that wasted exercise energy, no?

Hisham Jan 27, 2023

@innonate yes, that number is absurd (0.25% of US electricity is A LOT) — but yeah, sometimes I think about the energy wasted in exercise in the sense that "instead of spending a few hours a week in a gym, what if I could put my muscles to use for the same number of hours in an urban garden, farming food for my community? what if everyone did that?"

Kevin Fox Jan 27, 2023

@innonate That can’t be true. I’d probably fault ChatGPT’s figures.

Nate Jan 27, 2023

@kfury I’m certain it can’t be true. I’m also certain it’s an interesting idea - capturing all that exercise energy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Kevin Fox Jan 27, 2023

@innonate Agreed. I think about the wasted energy every time I ride.

Worse than that, the energy is turned into heat which I then spend more electricity to cool!

Nate Jan 27, 2023

@kfury i bet modding a Peloton would be pretty tough – something they’d need to officially support – but there are probably some ways to get a trainer modded pretty easily. i’m a runner, so that problem is a whole lot tougher. i’m thinking a parachute with a small turbine in the center/crown powering a battery stored in a worn backpack. cumbersome!

ShadSterling Jan 28, 2023

@kfury @innonate the problem is running has very little waste to harvest. It might be possible to make a treadmill generator, but I doubt using it would be much like running. My best guess is put generators in your shoes, and harvest the energy of pushing into the ground

stephen judkins Jan 27, 2023

@innonate this is completely wrong. US electricity usage. US electricity usage is 437GW; there are 5M Peloton subscribers; 0.25% of US electricity would imply a constant, 24 hour output of 200W. The very best pro cyclists can hit > 400W for an hour period. Maintaining 200W is hard; averaging 200W for a day is impossible

🚲Jan 27, 2023

@stephenjudkins @innonate “from ChatGPT” …did we expect this to be accurate?

Nate Jan 27, 2023

@dx @stephenjudkins Not sure about “we” but I did not. FWIW I posted my transcript here https://innonate.com/chatgpt-peloton-watts

ChatGPT Transcript Re: Peloton Watts • Nate Westheimer

Nate Westheimer is an entrepreneur, product exec, and investor. This is his blog.

stephen judkins Jan 28, 2023

@innonate @dx amazing. Just fudged stocks vs flows. Freshman econ student mistake, replicated perfectly.

ChatGPT is a lazy, slick college student

Danpiker Jan 28, 2023

@innonate @dx @stephenjudkins
It looks like you've mixed up figures for global/USA in the workouts, and billions/millions in your final calculation.

Dr. Dan Killam Jan 27, 2023

@innonate this is how the machines will put us to work when we blacken the sky

Alec Perkins Jan 27, 2023

@innonate @anildash reminds me of this attempt to toast bread using a stationary bike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4O5voOCqAQ

Olympic Cyclist Vs. Toaster: Can He Power It?

World famous track cyclist Robert Förstemann battles a 700w toaster. Can he, with his 74cm legs, generate enough energy to create a golden-brown toast? Pleas...

YouTube

Nate Jan 27, 2023

@alec @anildash great video

Kevin Fox Jan 27, 2023

@innonate @anildash I did the math and assuming Wolfram Alpha’s figure of 3.83 trillion kWh/year and 400 million Americans, every single American would have to ride at 130 watts for 30 minutes every single day for this to be true.

Kevin Fox Jan 27, 2023

(Not counting the 50 watts that each Peloton uses to run, cutting the total usable output by 38%.)

Nate Jan 27, 2023

@kfury FWIW here’s my transcript with ChatGPT https://innonate.com/chatgpt-peloton-watts

ChatGPT Transcript Re: Peloton Watts • Nate Westheimer

Nate Westheimer is an entrepreneur, product exec, and investor. This is his blog.

Kevin Fox Jan 27, 2023

@innonate Interesting! The three bits that may be responsible are:

- Energy should be represented in watt-hours, not watts.

- The 200 watt figure is a measure if power, not energy (watt-hours) and so if each workout averaged 30 minutes then it woulf be 100 watt-hours.

- The figure for annual US energy consumption may be off by a factor of a thousand. Wolfram Alpha says annual US energy consumption is 3.832 trillion kWh.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Nate Jan 28, 2023

@kfury Update: Spotted its mistake. Had the right consumption number just hidden in calling it “4,178 billion” - but then when it did division it did 4.178 billion. Sorry, AI, that doesn’t work.

anukul Jan 28, 2023

@innonate @anildash obligatory reference to this classic pre-lance-armstrong-collapse sportscenter promo https://youtu.be/TfbOb9b2y44

ESPN - Lance Armstrong

YouTube

Nate Jan 28, 2023

@anukul @anildash perfect

Phillip Hallam-Baker Jan 28, 2023

@innonate OK, so 0.25% if we put them on Peloton machines. But what if, and I am only spitballing here, what if we put them in some kind of vat with a built in entertainment system, VR even, and we could capture their whole output. Turn them into kind of a giant battery. What about that?

YetAnotherGeekGuy

@innonate @hallam what color pill does that come with, again?

Jake Ouellette Jan 28, 2023

@innonate in 2024 ChatGPT2 is going to cite this toot as a source

Ming Jan 28, 2023

@innonate is this net of the power consumption of the bike and the wifi and any other equipment i might have forgotten?

Nate Jan 28, 2023

@ming Definitely not. Also ChatGPT made a simple mistake that made the whole thing off by 1000x. See the full thread :)

Ming Jan 28, 2023

@innonate i would be happy if i could power a battery pack with the energy spent working out

Nate Jan 28, 2023

@ming wouldn’t that be neat!?

Scooba Jan 28, 2023

@innonate
Too bad the food you eat consumes more energy than you'll ever put out.