I thought this looked cool. I didn't check the vids because I'm on dialup. Could probably do the same thing with a windmill or water wheel.



G.V. Rao has built a pedal powered refrigeration unit that can be pedaled to nearly freezing in about 25 minutes using human power rather than a motor to run the compressor. A little more information here & here.

You know those decorative windmills for peoples gardens and lawns? I bet you could use one to run an 12 volt car alternator with a ten speeds chain and gears.
Use the alternator to keep a deep cycle 12 volt marine battery fed and you could run any low draw item off it.

You can also use a small lawnmower engine hooked to an alternator to charge batteries. It uses less gas than an auto engine.

Calling it manual labor when you do it with your feet just sounds wrong. I want to call it pedual labor, but not even the OED recognizes pedual as a word. Pedal labor? Foot labor? We need a good word here.