Much of the UN climate negotiations that went on in Copenhagen in December, 2009 was just so much hot air and spinning of wheels without any movement towards a liveable planet and a sustainable future for our children. But maybe things are changing. Recently a new bike innovation, called the Copenhagen Wheel, has been introduced, which might help this very green city reclaim it’s well-deserved reputation as an environmental leader. The Copenhagen Wheel, which is being touted as a way to help its namesake city become carbon-neutral by 2050, is a collaboration between MIT, the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Ducati Energia. Michael Lemonick over at Adventures In Climate Change had this to say about it recently:
Here’s how it works: you replace the rear wheel of your bike with the Copenhagen Wheel, which houses both an electric motor and a regenerative braking system that feeds power to the battery when you pedal backward to slow down. But (as they say on low-budget TV commercials) that’s not all! The wheel is Bluetooth-enabled, so you can use a smartphone to lock and unlock your bike, change gears and decide how much of a motor assist you prefer. You can also call up real-time information about how many calories you’re burning—and, thanks to built-in sensors, you can call up information about conditions around you, including temperature, humidity, noise and even nitrogen oxide pollution.
Check it out:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN7oLQezqqE&feature=player_embedded]
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