Ebikes + renewable energy is more efficient even than a human riding a traditional bike! The energy has to come from somewhere.
Why should regular bikes use more energy, given they’re only manufactured once (as are bikes), have no degenerating batteries and don’t need electricity are less efficient than ebikes?
It’s because fuelling humans with food (particularly with a typical western diet) and converting it to motion with digestion and muscle emits more carbon than generating electricity (with a typical grid mix) and running it through batteries and a motor.
Of course, most humans could probably do with the exercise anyways; carbon intensity isn’t the only thing worth considering.
That furphy’s been disapproved so many times it’s weird it keeps getting brought up. It’s literaly not the case, you can expend the energy to cycle the 5km to work and don’t need to eat extra to fuel it. You’re not racing the TdF.
As an asdie, I have an ebike and an escooter (better again IMO in cities then an ebike and less resource and maintence intensive) and a I use the escooter and non ebike by far the most
I’d agree escooters are more efficient. The only disadvantage is that you can at least get a little bit of exercise for all that time you’re riding the ebike.
It’s time to build net positive gyms…
Yeah, doesn’t quite make sense unless it’s implying that it’s within the average lifespan of the vehicle. Maybe then you can get further on an eBike than you can on an equivalent regular bike before it falls apart?
Doubtful, given that it is much more sustainable replacing cogs and chain wheels only than to also replace the motor…
But you also pedal way less on an eBike. Not sure if it’s enough to offset that though.
You mean while putting more force on cogs and chain?
Does it though?
Edit: Yes it does:
“Because of the added weight and torque, e-bike systems do produce more wear and tear on “consumable” parts. You’ll likely have to replace things like chains and brake pads more frequently, and you’ll want to keep an eye on tire wear and wheel parts like spokes, which are under more stress from the torque of the motor.”
So yeah, no clue how they got to the conclusion that eBikes are more energy efficient than regular bikes.
I don’t think this is true. Ebikes are actually not very sustainable: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/02/can-we-make-bicycles-sustainable-again/
But if it replaces a car, it is still very nice!
Thank you for clarification! That fits what I presumed.
(Does not take nutrition into account, though. So this leaves the question whether that indeed is the most significant contribution in manual transport…)
It’s strange that they didn’t include the food offset by the ebike though. This link tries to give a comparison between the two accounting for a typical European diet (which is also far more sustainable than the typical American diet).
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/long-reads/cycling-environmental-impact/
I think it is reasonable to ignore food, since it will be more or less equal to the energy you would spend exercising in other ways (jogging, gym, …). Especially when commiting in a city (<10km).
But your link still shows a nice overview when taking that into account specifically!
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@bonkerfield I really need to go back to biking (also just testing if my reply on Mastodon bubbles up there 🚲)
How does a bike emit CO2
A person riding a bike has to consume extra food to burn energy in their muscles to propel them. The energy has to come from somewhere. There are CO2 emissions associated with producing food.
Thought so. Would love to see their calculations and bicycle be split into meat / no-meat categories :)
Ebike for short distance and electric train on long distance.
The french TGV can do 312km while enjoying only 1kg of CO2
Dang, that is nice. I’m guessing that’s because the French grid has a lot of nuclear?
Yes, a lot of nuclear and a decent amount of hydro
Interesting! I thought for sure ebikes would have higher emissions. Is this graph excluding manufacturing and/or average lifetime emissions?
How does enclosed encumbent cycles stack up? They’re more efficient than regular bikes, so using them just increases the lead on other modes of transport?
You can deep dive on the resources down in the footer. I’ve got to assume reducing the drag would make either ebike or bike more efficient by the same amount. Maybe even slightly better for the ebike since it goes a little faster.
