Originally Posted By: Bingley
Hand crank doesn't get free energy. It's an inefficient process of converting your food calories into electricity. If you're in an emergency situation, can you count on having extra calories to burn off? Will you have enough food? Will you have health arms/hands?


Interesting approach.
Granting that there ain't no such thing as a free lunch (TAANSTAFL, Heinlein) all the modalities involve converting something- wind, sunlight, gasoline, money- into electrical energy. I can collect energy from the sun, a windmill, from a car or stand alone generator, from the grid or batteries that I have purchased, but any means requires resources and is not, therefore, free. I can imagine a scenario when I would not have access to enough sunlight, enough gasoline, enough wind, or enough strength to generate meet the power budget. Best solution I can think of is to be equipped with several alternatives.
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