The wise virgins described in this Sunday’s gospel made sure they had enough oil to keep their lamps lit. With their gas generators labeled a fire hazard and confiscated by authorities, Occupy Wall Street protestors in New York City’s Zuccotti Park have found a creative way to keep the lights on and laptops humming: bicycle pedal power.

Keegan Stephan, a bike mechanic and environmentalist at the park site, has been pedaling a stationary bike to provide energy for the protesters' encampment. "People get really excited when they see these bikes," said George Pingeon, a bike tour guide involved with the effort.

The bike is attached to a flywheel which in turn connects to a dynamo that creates energy that flows through a motor and a one-way diode to charge a battery.

When fully charged--after about 6 hours of pedaling--the battery might provide power for around 100 hours, Stephan estimated. Protesters will drawn on this energy to run laptops, cell phones, and other devices.

Stephan said he had made the machine over a year ago and had utilized it to operate the refrigerator in his apartment. He brought it to Zuccotti Park a few weeks ago to offer an example of how people might create their own power.

Last Friday New York City police took away the gas-powered generators that the protesters--some of whom have slept in the park for more than a month--had been using. The Fire Department has said that storing large amounts of fuel in the park violates fire codes.

Since then several other bikes have been added to the effort. "I'm going to ask the tourists if they want to help pedal," Pingeon said.

Source: A blog post by Zachary Roth for The Lookout (Yahoo! News)