The Billions in Change project by entrepreneur Manoj Bhargava decided to use the body’s energy to create electricity. They developed the Free Electric, a stationary bike that can transform 1 hour of pedaling into 24 hours of electricity. Basically, pedaling moves the flywheel, which drives a generator that charges a battery. Bhargava’s goal is to distribute about 10 thousand of these bikes in India where access to electricity is still quite limited.
“This is the cheapest, most practical way of getting electricity throughout the world,” says Bhargava who seeks work on solutions to problems such as lack of clean water and energy to make the future brighter for everyone. “The real thing is to get the poor out of poverty, and one of the basics is energy. I mean think about it, the poor have stayed the poor half because they have no power, they have no energy. That’s one of the most fundamental things, that and water. Those are the two biggest things that a poor person really needs.”
