The bike rack that harvests clean energy from cycle commuters

The S-Park bike rack is pitched as a means of harvesting the clean energy produced by cyclists during their commutes. The designers reckon that a rack for 30 bikes could generate one kilowatt-hour a day.

Amsterdam’s city centre has little space for clean energy infrastructure with solar panels and other visible interventions not permitted on historic buildings. Nevertheless, the city has pledged that a quarter of its electricity will be sustainably generated by 2025.

This has given rise to the Clean Energy Challenge, a competition seeking innovative renewable energy designs. Fast Company reports that the S-Park is the submission of designers Guillaume Roukhomovsky and Blaž Verhnjak.

The system involves a front bike wheel with batteries which store the energy produced by the revolving wheel and through braking.

When the cyclist returns home, they park in the S-Park bike rack that’s connected to the power network and the power in the wheel is captured and used.

Roukhomovsky and Verhnjak estimate that for a rack of 30 bikes, and an average commute of 2.2 miles a day, about one kilowatt-hour per day could be generated.

Amsterdam is planning to invest tens of millions in cycling infrastructure by 2020, so they are also hoping to present their idea to the mayor.

S-PARK from Guillaume Roukhomovsky on Vimeo.