This gym is using its spin classes to generate clean energy

'It's nice to know that the power I'm generating is actually going straight back into the national grid. Ben McSweeney, Terra Hale gym Credit: AP

A London gym has put its own spin on clean energy by making its members peddle to generate power.

The Terra Hale gym in Shepherd's Bush Market takes the energy generated by peddling and puts it into the local grid.

The fitness hub claims a 50-minute spin class with eight to ten participants will generate between 1,500 and 3,300 watts.

While the activity is not enough to power an entire city, it could sustain a desktop computer, which uses about 400 watts an hour.

Michal Homola, the founder of Terra Hale said: "Everyone comes to the gym in order to lose weight or gain muscle and in order to do this you need to release energy.

"And this energy hasn't been harnessed and I believe there is a potential of doing this.

"And, I'm just a small fish in a big ocean, but if everyone would follow and copy, we can make a huge difference".

  • So how does it work?

Homola says the underlying mechanism is similar to that of a windmill or solar panel.

However, instead of a natural source such as the sun or wind being used to generate energy, human peddle power becomes the supplier.