Via Movoto, a handy widget for calculating how many potatoes it would take to power your home.
(Click here if you’re not familiar with extracting electricity from potatoes, or if you’re just curious about the backstory on the widget)
This is the actual widget, not just a screenshot. Go ahead, type in your numbers & pick your time frame.
By the way, nobody tell Obama about this, lest he turn it into some sort of mandatory Green Energy program.
Potatoes are much more efficient in my stomach. Trust me. I’m of Irish descent.
Yay! Professor Proton spoke of this on tbbt! Penny thought that it would take magic potatoes.
It’s still a better idea than burning a major portion of the worlds food supply to make ethanol.
Oops, too late!
of course, potatoes are still cheaper than arugula. anybody go into whole foods lately? i mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff!
Extra bonus: After carrying home all those potatoes (or the alternate spelling of your choice is your name is Dan) you will save on both electricity and health club membership. No need to pump iron.
only 1.5 million potatoes and $507,163 to power my house for 1 year! Why hasn’t the gov’t mandated this miracle energy breakthrough for everyone!!!!
Uh-oh, did someone figure in getting the heat to boil the potatoes? I guess we could specify a focused solar mirror, but it would be better to use it to power your house (after you buy a small turbine and electric generator).
Still, it is a cute science demonstration of how batteries work. I wonder how long they last?
I know where to get copper (legally, even); but where would you get zinc (same place)?
@7 CCO
try your pocket. currently, pennies are 97.5% zinc.
What does the square footage of your house have to do with electrical usage? A 1000 sf house with AC and an electric stove uses a lot more than a 3000 sf house with neither…..
If a single boiled potato gives 5V, then you only need 24 for 120V, or 48 for 240V. I wonder how he figured the energy in a potato, because that’s what really matters. A kWh is 3.6MJ.