tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10011905.post115072536269789152..comments2023-06-13T11:51:31.233+02:00Comments on Long Burn: The price of good driving karmaMatt_Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00139378448055540977noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10011905.post-1153398976712069072006-07-20T14:36:00.000+02:002006-07-20T14:36:00.000+02:00I read in the Financial Times yesterday (FT left o...I read in the Financial Times yesterday (FT left on the train by a gypsy! See blog on that.) that while the Toyota Prius Hybred gets 55 miles to the gallon, an 18-wheeler gets roughly 7.<BR/>Anyway-- ran across this interesting piece:<BR/><BR/>“The Environmental Paradox of Bicycling”: shifting people from their cars to bicycles offers almost no benefit to the environment. <BR/><BR/>Bicycles do have large first-order environmental benefits over cars as a means of transportation. Ulrich’s analysis considers the case in which a formerly sedentary person begins bicycling 10 km per day, 5 days per week. In this scenario, about one ton of CO2 is spared every year in the form of reduced fuel consumption.<BR/><BR/>This reduction in fuel use is partially offset by the increased food consumption of a cyclist. Although typically we think of food as carbon neutral — because the plants at the bottom of our food chain regrow after we harvest them — this view overlooks the fact that most of us don’t feed ourselves by hunting and gathering. The energy required to grow, harvest, process, package, and transport food to your nearest Whole Foods significantly outweighs the actual caloric content of your meal, by a factor of almost six. In other words, only about 15% of the energy we consume when we eat is actually in our food. The rest is contained in the fossil fuels used to bring our food to us.<BR/><BR/>But increased food consumption is a relatively minor effect when compared to the overall gas savings of cycling over driving. The real culprit in Ulrich’s analysis is the increased lifespan of people who ride bikes. Regular exercise helps you live longer, which points to an unsettling fact. One of the single best things you can do for the planet is to limit your time here.<BR/><BR/>Ulrich estimates that every year of sustained bicycle use adds about 10.6 days to the average person’s lifespan, even accounting for the increased accident risk that cyclists face.<BR/><BR/>The result, in Ulrich’s analysis, is basically a wash. Each of us, simply by participating in the economy, uses a significant amount of energy. Bicycling rather than driving causes a large first-order decrease in the amount of energy a person uses, but the increased longevity of that person almost entirely negates the savings.<BR/><BR/>More information:<BR/>http://<BR/>opim.wharton.upenn.edu<BR/>/~ulrich/documents<BR/>/ulrich-cycling-enviro-jul06.pdfMatt_Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00139378448055540977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10011905.post-1153301458395188222006-07-19T11:30:00.000+02:002006-07-19T11:30:00.000+02:00Yes I do take the train to work (+ bike to/from st...Yes I do take the train to work (+ bike to/from stations on each side)and don't drive that much. So I am probably paying for some of your emissions too Tim. What I like about this idea is that it shows the cost to the individual of removing their own CO2-- but it is incomplete of course since I am also responsible for heating our house and buying manufactured goods and agricultural products that were fertilized...The 23 pounds of CO2 is divided into 8 pounds of carbon in the fuel and the balance oxygen from the atmosphere-- 8 pounds of gasoline is maybe easier to digest/imagine.Matt_Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00139378448055540977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10011905.post-1153301129698403942006-07-19T11:25:00.000+02:002006-07-19T11:25:00.000+02:00Hey Beedubs, do I know you? I hadn't heard that t...Hey Beedubs, do I know you? I hadn't heard that the hockey stick had been broken!? I will have to look into it. What I do know is that 2005 was the warmest year ever and 2006 has also set some records.Matt_Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00139378448055540977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10011905.post-1150816886994510702006-06-20T17:21:00.000+02:002006-06-20T17:21:00.000+02:00I can't get my head around 8000 pounds! 23 pounds...I can't get my head around 8000 pounds! 23 pounds per day? I thought you took the train to work.<BR/><BR/>I like the idea of terrapass.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com