2011-04809 03 May 2014

ENG 10 C-5R Draft no. 1

Review of Related Literature
The world needs energy in its everyday routine. People have made an extreme advancement in
technology in their lives that in order to operate this technology needs a lifetime supply of energy. United
Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO) (2008) states that in order for a country to respond
to poverty problems, it must secure an energy supply on its own. This would also lead to improvement of
competitiveness and growth of economy. In meeting its development, a country needs a source of energy
which is clean, stable and dependable.
UNIDO also stated that it is expected that the demand of energy for the next years will grow
significantly thus, giving way to problems such as poverty reduction and development and macroeconomic
stability worldwide. In the Philippines, 33 percent of the country considered energy problems as a hindrance
in operation and progress of businesses. Mindanao suffers critical level of energy supply with a shortage
reaching above 300 MW (megawatts) as of May 2014 thus leading to frequent rotational blackouts. (National
Grid Corporation of the Philippines [NGCP], 2014). According to a country report about the energy levels
of the country (2013), since mid 2011, southern part of Philippines still experiences rotational blackouts
because of the insufficient supply of energy.
A proposed solution to this problem is the use of renewable resources. Renewable energy is derived
from sources like sun and the wind that can easily be replenished. This type of energy can be a solution to the
long running problem about energy.
Aside from energy problem, another problem faced worldwide is the increase of population of
overweight and obese people. According to statistics, 26.6 percent of Filipinos are overweight and 5.2 percent
are obese. (National Statistics Coordination Board [NSCB], 2008) which shows an increase of rate from 1993
survey of Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-
DOST) that states that 14 percent of the Filipinos are overweight and 2.6 percent are obese. Not only the
figures nearly doubled after almost two decades but studies showed that the occurrence of these conditions
steadily goes up since early 1990s.
Being overweight and obese is a serious problem. It poses severe illness that affects health of an individual.
Center for Disease Control stated that having these conditions has higher risk of developing Coronary heart
disease, Type 2 diabetes, Cancers, Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, Stroke, Liver and Gallbladder disease, Sleep
apnea and breathing problems, Osteoarthritis and Gynecological problems.
A possible solution to the two problems above stated is Human Energy Harvesting, which uses
muscular strength in order to operate an engineered application. In this concept, the input would be human
energy, from human fat and sugar, and the output would be a mechanical process of an engineered machine
or a stored electrical energy that can be readily available and easily used as a power source. This concept can
be utilized in order to create a renewable energy that can promote solution to the problem of energy and
obesity.
Blechman, Braker, Chodnicki, DuBow, Pernia, Sy, Thompson and Tucker (2009) conducted a study
about benefits of retrofitting cardiovascular exercise equipment of a gym with human harvesting technology.
The study was conducted in two methods, through survey and exercise equipment inside a gym at Eppley .
Recreation Center (ERC) at University of Maryland. The survey was conducted to determine the social
acceptance of the students on the Human Energy Harvesting while ERC examined to find out the local
benefits of implementing Human Energy Harvesting. The aim of the study was too determine the benefit of
energy harvesting in a gym environment. It aims to determine the feasibility of energy harvesting at ERC. The
study showed that the set-up was an energy-eco-friendly source of power. It found out that the study can help
the business of ERC such that it helps lessen the cost of electricity bill because it can generate its own power
supply. According to the survey conducted, students were willing to attend to the gym knowing the fact that
it generates energy supply.
Haji, Lau and Agogino (2010) approximated that a group of 28 elliptical machines can generate a
10,000 kiloWatts (kW) into the electrical grid over a year. . Recreational Sports Facility (RSF), having an
estimated of 2800 costumers daily, the study was conducted at facility at University of California with 28
retrofitted elliptical machines available. According to the study, only 0.7 percent amount of needed energy by
the facility was generated but nonetheless it is significant. Also, according to the students who found out
about the stud, they were willing to participate on the said project. The students wanted to be involved in the
energy harvesting conducted by the researcher. But some barrier faced was the price of retrofitting the
equipments.
Retrofitting gm equipments would require large amount of money as the study of Epstein, Harvey,
Fitchett and Campbell (2010) indicated. The objective of the study entitled Greening Gyms: Analysis of the
feasibility of retrofitting cardio workout machines was to increase the level of awareness of the students at
Aquatic and Fitness Center about the possible amount of energy generated during workout. But barriers such
mainly financial cost was an obstacle to the study thus making it impossible. Ordering and installing flywheel
cranks and chains from different area would require large amount of money thus, would not be economically
wise.
In the study of Mankodi (2012), treadmill was used as gym equipment for retrofitting. The purpose
of the study was to build a prototype of a treadmill that can generate energy for harvesting. Mankodi used v-
shaped chains coupled in the flywheel for the transmission system for the generation of power of the
treadmill. A fixture was also built The result of the study was