Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Walk, Bike, E-Bike, it's all good!

Original Post at Ecovelo.info:

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS

Source: Life Cycle Assessment of Transportation Options for Commuters, page 11.

In her Life Cycle Assessment of Transportation Options for Commuters, Shreya Dave at MIT analyzed the complete life cycles of various modes of transportation to compare their environmental impacts.

As you’d expect, human powered forms of transportation are much less polluting than those involving fossil fuel. One surprise in the report is that the differences between walking, conventional bicycling, and e-assist bicycling are negligible. From the conclusion:

The results reported in the previous section show the significant environmental as well as economic (in terms of energy purchased) benefit of using human-powered forms of transportation. According to this study, walking, conventional bicycling and electric bicycling are release exactly the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions. While an electric bicycle consumes more energy (both to produce and to operate) and releases the associated greenhouse gases, a conventional bicycle requires the operator to work harder and breathe more heavily. In effect, the impact of the electric bicycle is entirely negligible. All forms of personal transport are at least three times better than any other form of commuter transport.

Source Links:

http://www.ecovelo.info/2011/08/15/life-cycle-assessment-of-transportation-options/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ecovelo%2Fposts+%28EcoVelo%29

http://www.pietzo.com/storage/downloads/Pietzo_LCAwhitepaper.pdf

How to become a cycling 'ambassador' | Matt Seaton | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Maybe increasing the numbers of cyclists is easier/cheaper than we think, this from the UK Guardian:

How to become a cycling 'ambassador'

A new cyclists' initiative has become a buzzword in US bike advocacy, but what does it mean to be one?

Bike blog: Bike rider view of 2 cyclists commuting across bridge

What does it mean to be a cycling 'ambassador'? Photograph: Scott Markewitz/Getty Images

There is a rather unlikely new vogue word in cycling circles: ambassador.
I'm trying to get the images of the Ferrero Rocher ad out of my head (the euro-kitsch classic in which those almost inedible bonbons are handed round by flunkies at an embassy party: "Monsieur, with these Rocher, you're really spoiling us"), because actually the cycling ambassadorial role is a fine and noble one.
Just this week, a bike shop in Portland, Oregon – which is widely seen as a countercultural cycling nirvana in the automobile-loving US – launched an initiative it's calling "21Ambassadors". According to the mission statement:

"To ride a bicycle is to be part of a community, to share a common experience, as much as it is about good health and helping the environment […] We believe that as a community we should support each other in bad times as well as good. We, the 21 Ambassadors are here to help you. When tires flat and spokes break, when chains fail and gears groan, when you need a hand, we hope to be there to assist."

A kind of cross between Bicycle Repair Man and the Big Society, cynics might say. But Kyle Von Hoetzendorff of 21st Avenue Bicycles is getting plenty of applicants, within hours of the launch of the programme, ready to make the ambassadors' commitments:

• To stop and offer assistance to fellow cyclists.
• To follow all rules of the road and set the standard for exemplary riding behaviour.
• To carry their Road Aid kit with them on all rides.

How to become a cycling 'ambassador' | Matt Seaton | Environment | guardian.co.uk