One of the key focuses of the Bluss environmental criteria was ‘power’ and how we could find alternative and renewable approaches to producing electricity for the art works that would be part of the Bluss event.
The principal was to design and make renewable energy devices that would be used to charge a bank of portable batteries these could then be used with power inverters to run the equipment/art works sited throughout the Bluss route.

After researching various forms of renewable energy such as Micro hydro wind and solar power I decided to concentrate specifically on bicycle generators, which would be more achievable to develop within the timescale and budget available. This also had the potential to be more interactive and offered an exchange as the local Fykse community could be invited to give their pedal power to Bluss.  And the Art event could literally be powered by the energy of the people.

I researched and constructed two 12-volt alternator bicycle generators using a mixture of recycled, bought and locally sourced materials. The generators were then placed outside Fykse School with instructions for use and were made available throughout the two week process leading up to the event.







Reflection:
On reflection of the Bluss environmental criteria although a valuable learning experience the bicycle generators where time consuming, expensive and relatively ineffective.  There became a significant imbalance between the amounts of power required to operate the art works in relation to the amount of power we could achieve to generate.

This meant the renewable energy devices created became more tokenistic than a practical and effective alternative to mains grid power production.
And led to the need for mains power in order to successfully power certain art works for the event. However we stress if the technical skills and finances are available it would be more than possible to power a light event by using renewable energy. However it is important to consider the scale and long-term use of such systems, and what makes the most practical sense in specification to the environment the event is to be held in.

To read more about the Bluss environmental criteria click here.

Useful links:

Centre for Alternative Technology:
http://www.cat.org.uk

Make your own bike generator:
http://www.scienceshareware.com