Nash Hoover is 12, and like (too) many kids, he turns on a light when he enters a room, but doesn't turn it off when he leaves. It's only one bulb, after all (multiplied by rooms of bulbs in homes across the USA). Nash is learning, though. He and his dad, an inventor and journalist named Pierce Hoover, began a journey on June 1 across the USA. All 4,000 or so miles of it. And they're using an amazing hybrid vehicle that is expected to make the trip on only a light bulb's worth of energy per day.
That translates to 1,000 miles per gallon. Take that, gas hogs and oil barons. This hybrid vehicle is human-electric, and is traveling from New York to Oregon.
Hoover managed to turn most every father's problem (turn off the lights, kids) into a story pitch and a cross-country ride. The journey is being called the Eco Tour, and Hoover will be writing about his experiences at www.popsci.com/ecotour. The trek is sponsored by General Electric and Popular Science, and meant to spread energy conservation awareness. Pierce and Nash Hoover plan to travel about 60 miles per day, stopping in communities along the way to spread their conservation message. You can follow the journey on Twitter @PopSciEcoTour.
Just how much does it take to power a lightbulb? Why should we care? The Eco Tour idea came about because father Hoover was thinking of a way to teach his son about the realities of wasting energy. So he took his son to a local health club, where exercise bikes measure output in watts. He had his son pedal for 100 watts, for a typical incandescent. Nash found it was quite a bit of work, and he would have to spend most of his time pedaling if he wanted to keep wasting energy around the house.
Perhaps he wouldn't have been as convinced with the energy required for one of those lower-watt high-efficiency bulbs. Just kidding. Wasting less energy is still a waste.
The vehicle the Hoovers are helping power was designed with the help of a team of engineers from Montana and Portland. It's a human-electric hybrid that runs on a 100-watt motor powered by batteries and kinetic energy through pedaling. It has a top speed of about 25 mph, achieving an efficiency equivalent of about 1,000 mpg, according to the PopSci people.
Pierce and Nash Hoover expect that the Eco Tour will take about 90 days to complete, traveling from New York City to Portland, Oregon (where the Dream of the 90s is alive).
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