There is a new program that allows inmates at a prison in Minas Gerais, Brazil to reduce their sentences by generating electric power to help illuminate the town at night.

Courtesy of Santa Rita Do Sapucai Prison

Inmates charge a battery that is used to power street lamps along the town’s riverside promenade by pedaling stationary bikes. Three eight-hour pedaling shifts will reduce their sentence by one day.

This is an interesting concept; I wonder how it would work in American Prisons. Instead of using the generated electricity to power street lamps they could use it to power the prisons and reduce electricity costs.

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Sources:

NBC News, Inmates at Brazil prison pedal for electricity – and their freedom