Bicycle air tunnels?
Interesting ideas from my hometown of Denver, Colorado: a company here has plans for air tunnels for bicycles. The tunnels would have an artificially-generated tail wind, allowing bicyclists in the tunnel to ride at average speeds of 25 mph. Supposedly bicyclists in the tunnel would be able to travel 10km using the same amount of energy they would need to travel 1km outside the tunnel. The tunnels would even be a profit center--the company claims they would generate profits even if running at 12 percent capacity!
One observer is not so impressed. He says the tunnels would be magnets for crime and that the glass walls would create a greenhouse. He also says the tunnels would be expensive and that they would not be all that energy efficient due to the fans needed to push air through the tunnels.
So I put aside my initial laughs of disbelief to consider the merits of this thing. I'm a bit skeptical because the company's drawings don't show all the fans that would be needed or the proof for their claim that this would be profitable (though urban transit systems produce positive externalities, they are seldom profitable to operate, and are even less profitable when one considers the capital cost.)
This looks interesting, but without more cost data who could say if it would be a good idea?
Thanks to Dennis for sending this along.
Post Author:
massysett | 9:31 PM |
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