By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

The University of Kansas reports that it will be harnessing energy created by gym rats and using it to produce electricity.

What a great idea. The university is contracting with a Florida company called SunQuest to equip the elliptical machines in the campus rec center so that the kinetic energy produced by exercisers is captured and used for electricity.

Naturally, they've crunched the numbers. According to a KU news release:

...a typical 30-minute workout produces 50 watts of clean energy, enough to power a laptop for an hour, a TV for 15 minutes or a compact flourescent light bulb for two hours and 30 minutes.

That might not sound overwhelming, but the rec center has 15 machines, and the gym is open 15 to 18 hours a day. They're expecting fitness addicts to produce about 10 kilowatts a day. It will be used in the rec center.

The university expects the elliptical machines to become even more popular, now that students have a double motivation to use them.