Bikes are actually greener than walking, because if you need to move, they allow you to have a greater daily range for a not much higher footprint (more efficient and 3 times faster).
What about production?
Embedded CO2 for a bike is like 100kg (that’s what 4 trees in your backyard absorb a year), which over a lifetime of 30 years is negligible.
You say negligible, but what you mean is negligible on a scale of the CO2 emissions we are used to. Human body CO2 emission is just as negligible on that scale.
Ill do some quick maths: According to the first source on google, an average human burns 3kcal/min walking and 5kcal/min biking at 15km/h, which is about 3x as fast as walking. Considering that, we arrive at a difference of 1.33kcal/min by walking instead of biking. Estimates suggest 1.3g CO2-equivalents per kcal for average consumption (much lower for vegans), so thats 1.73g CO2/min. 100kg CO2 for bike production would take 57,800min of walking, thats almost 963h. An average bike will probably be used more so I guess you are right and bikes are indeed more efficient than walking :D
CO2 emissions that fall within natural cycles in terms of scale, are negligible.
I agree, but the question at hand was not whether one or the other was negligible, but which is more efficient: walking or biking.
I responded to the wrong comment, sorry
It’s faster to make bikes than legs
It’s also really green if you die riding one in places where it’s completely unsafe to ride one like where I live. You eliminate your carbon footprint completely!
I was so excited to finally live in a city where I could actually ride a bike to work most of the year until I actually tried it.
Drivers are assholes, have no awareness of their surroundings, the rules of the road and they give zero shits.
Nope nope nope. I’ll walk to the train
It’s not really the drivers’ fault, it’s the bad infrastructure that drives their behavior.
I’m talking about running stop signs, gunning it at yellow lights, not using turn signals, using turn signals but not turning, swerving into bike lanes and flinging open their doors without looking.
Infrastructure like protected bike lanes and robust public transit so fewer people feel the need to drive are great, but bad driving is bad driving.
I lived somewhere with trains half my life ago, it was very nice. I have no trains or buses or sidewalks or even a shoulder on the road. Just fast two-lane curvy backroads with a ditch on the side.
#fuckcars
Even greener if the murderer in the car gets thrown in jail!
I can say the same about public transportation
But tanks are the perfect cure for traffic jam.
That’s clearly self propelled artillery.
SPGs are the ultimate commuter vehicle if you only need to move a couple of hundred metres.
worked well in tiannenmen square (:
The final cure to jaywalking is no man’s land.
tankies in shambles
deleted by creator
I think it’s probably referring to yachts rather than ocean liners.
Ocean liners are all but extinct. They’ve been supplanted by cruise ships which are utterly horrific for the environment.
What about boats with sails?
Sailboats shouldn’t be that bad considering what goes into their construction and that they don’t actively produce pollutants beyond whatever wears off your rope and I guess painting the hull every couple of years.
Boats put out more CO2 than cars. Water is more dense than air and friction of tires and rolling and etc. Boats are overall worse for the environment both on climate change and environmental damage.
This guy’s gonna drive his boat to work!
There isn’t a canal, inlet or fjord everywhere.
How is a moped better than a tram?
Edit: I mean for the environment, I’m sure mopeds are better than trams in other ways - like for doing tricks and making quick runs to the supermarket to get bread and milk
I read that as an electric bike originally but now I wonder if you’re right. Mopeds are definitely better than cars but I doubt they’re better than trams.
I wouldn’t say Mopeds are “definitely better” than cars. Theyre only designed to carry one or two people.Their engines generally aren’t as efficient as those in cars. A moped carrying one person is definitely better than a car with only one person in it, but if the car is full, then it might be the better choice.
Where do the plague of SUVs and light trucks live in this scale?
hell or G
In real life, the system is screwed, and vehicles are not measured just by their energy consumption, but by their energy consumption compared to other vehicles of similar weight, so in the end there are heavy SUVs with much better ratings than compact cars.
deleted by creator
Driving a tank to hell is probably a good idea.
Where do monster trucks lie on this scale?
Actually, serious question: How do most of you feel about car sports? Like if we managed to get a world where cars are not a necessity would vehicular sporting events also be purged? I’m not much of a race fan, but demolition derby and monster truck shows are fun.
The community is, I believe, about eliminating car dependency. Basically, it would be an ideal world if you don’t even have to consider owning a car to participate in society. Car racing is like the difference between mountain biking and riding a bike around for your commute. There are worse practices than racing cars.
Nah dude, care can be really cool toys! I fully support Nascar, demolition derbys, monster trush shows, old car collecting, etc.
I just don’t want cars to be the main way to go places, let alone the only one as it is in many places! It is bad economically, it is bad for people’s health, and it is bad for the environment. Using cars for entertainment though really isn’t an issue, nor is using them in situations where the alternatives don’t work as well.
The pollution impact is fairly small and a lot of innovation happens in those competitions that might end up in ordinary vehicles.
Motorsports are cool. And their contribution to pollution is negligible compared to wider vehicle use as well as more accountable.
Image Transcription:
A sticker attached to a pole with a QR code in the top right corner. Down the left side are the letters A to G on coloured tags with arrow-angled right ends, and under G a black coloured tag with HELL written on it, in the style of the European Union’s energy efficiency labels found on appliances. Each tag ranges in colour from dark green to red and increases in size the further down it goes. Each arrow end indicates a different silhouette.
The A tag is dark green and very short, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of a walking stick figure.
The B tag is a slightly lighter green than A and slightly longer, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of a bicycle.
The C tag is light green and slightly longer than B, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of an moped.
The D tag is yellow and slightly longer than C, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of a subway train.
The E tag is orange and slightly longer than D, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of a car.
The F tag is orange-red and slightly longer than E, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of a yacht.
The G tag is red and the length increase from F is almost triple that of previous length increases, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of an airplane.
The HELL tag is black and longer than G, the arrow end points towards the silhouette of a tank.
[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]
So some errors:
- the C tag points to a silhouette of a moped, not an e-bike.
- the D tag points to the silhouette of a subway train, not a bus. You can tell by the wheel sets.
- most egregiously, the F tag points to the silhouette of a yacht
EDIT: As pointed out in one comment, it’s the F tag pointing to a yacht, not the G tag. I corrected the post.
EDIT2: Our transcriber has updated their post to reflect the changes. Well done good person! 👍
i saw e-bike with C. I think one could see either
G definitely points to a jet. A private jet to be more specific.
… good point, I’ll correct it. The one pointing to a yacht is definitely not pointing to a train car, that was the point.
My bad! I had a lot of trouble with this one, I’ll admit. Thank you so much for the information, I’ve edited my comment. 💜
The only subtle detailed you missed, which is not surprise, is that Sweden and Norway (not sure which if the other skandies, maybe this is a EU thing, hm) use those letters, with those colors, and those arrows to indicate energy efficiency rating. So, it could be a nudge at the relationship between reducing emissions or suffer consequences of global warming, which will eventually lead to famine and war.
all the EU does, it is a standardized EU thing
Thank you for the correction! I’ve edited my comment. This was a particularly difficult one for me, so I really appreciate the information 💜
let’s push those yachts and private jets down a few levels while we’re at it.
Lekker blijven likken!
But tank driving is a lot of fun.
Is a motorcycle really better than light rail?
Is walking better than biking? As I understand biking’s more efficient.
It depends. Expended energy/m is higher but space usage is much lower. For walking you arguably don’t even need a paved path while (non-sport) cycling needs a somewhat even surface and places to store and lock the bike. It’s not nearly as bad as with cars but even with cycling, space usage can become an issue in very densely populated areas; the Dutch don’t build massive bike garages because it’s cool (okay, maybe also a little of that) but because it’s a necessity.
If it’s near enough to walk, it’s usually better to just walk.
There should be a rowboat before or after the bike.
Mate you ever rowed a boat? That shit is hard work, it goes below the bike for sure
Of course, the pedalo manages to combine the worst of both worlds and seems to exist solely as a way to work your quads out without looking like you’re doing a gym session
If you have good balance, I think paddle boards are more efficient than a kayak, assuming your not carrying a load. You can put your whole body into the stroke. Kayaking destroys my shoulders
I’m definitely biased here since I spent years kayaking and have only gone paddleboarding twice, and I also definitely don’t want to just be all “lol skill issue”, but I think this might be an issue with your (kayak) paddling technique. You should be using your whole torso rather than your arms and shoulders
I’m sure you’re right. I only have minimal experience with both.
I agree in perfect conditions, but paddleboards are completely impractical as transport. I once got blown out to sea by unexpected high winds while on a paddleboard and I was lucky there was a boat going past to pick me up. Kayaks on the other hand can handle rough seas and carry many days of food.
