[Closed] Cycling is now bad for the environment!

[quote=Article says...]“You can’t just say that there’s no pollution as a result of riding a bicycle.”

That part I'd agree with. I don't pretend that driving 2.5 hours to Wales for an equal time on a bike and then driving home is particularly environmentally friendly, nor is the production of the bike itself and the far-flung corners of the world the parts come from.
Not sure about the heavy breathing nonsense though... 😀

Of course it is when people leave their shitty energy gel wrappers everywhere! 👿 rant over.

They can leave those gel and bar litter on the trail because they are going to pro biker riders, it's all part of the training.

Taking the argument to the logical conclusion, anyone that walks anywhere should be taxed for the increased CO2 emissions.

Perhaps they should also give tax credits to people that just sit on their arses all day.

Its amazing how little evidence can be used to make decisions!

FFS this is the problem when you allow idiots to talk publicly.

Perhaps they should also give tax credits to people that just sit on their arses all day

We already do this !!!!

SOME of what he says does actually make sense, namely that producing and riding a bicycle is not co2 free, but then neither is walking.
or sitting around on your arse all day.
what interested me most, however, was the difference in co2 between normal bicycles and electric pedal assist bicycles
http://bikeportland.org/2011/12/12/new-study-compares-bicyclings-co2-emissions-to-other-modes-63536 which was linked to in the article.

I shared this on FB. When I commented on how ridiculous it was to mouth off without any kind of knowledge on a subject, my (American) father in law replied 'He's a Republican. Facts don't matter to these people!'

Presumably, he holds his breath when driving?

But, cycling isn't 'green' if done for recreational purposes. Even if riding from home and so not using a car, you're still wearing out components and eating more food for no utilitarian reason.

We already do this !!!!

Dear lord. Why does this guy have the power to make decisions??

Yes, we breathe out CO2.
Yes, while exercising we breathe out more CO2.
No, that isn't (necessarily) bad for the environment.

That CO2 is already part of the existing CO2 cycle.

As I understand it, the thing that is (apparently) bad for the environment is introducing [i]NEW[/i] CO2 to the CO2 cycle - which we do by burning fossil fuels (e.g. releasing CO2 that was previously safely sequestered underground).

You can't in all honesty declare cycling completely "environmentally friendly", because you can't in all honesty call ANYTHING humans do "environmentally friendly"!

But what you can say is that using a bicycle for transport, instead of a car, is [i]MORE [/i]"environmentally friendly".

What's the biggest source of greenhouse gasses?

Cows. Farting cows to be precise.

Where do most cows live?

America.

😕

It's simple. I offset my carbon emissions from owning a bicyccle by not have children.

That's what you call a win win situation.

what interested me most, however, was the difference in co2 between normal bicycles and electric pedal assist bicycles

That is quite interesting, although I guess the human body and an engine are about as efficient as each other (~20%), it's just that we don't try and move 2t of metal arround. An electric bike is pretty much the same power requirment as a normal one.

What's the biggest source of greenhouse gasses?

Cows. Farting cows to be precise.

Where do most cows live?

America.

Nope, agriculture as a whole only accounts for 7% in the USA http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/sources.html

What you breathe out it is not just CO2, a large part is nitrogen and oxygen as you don't use all that you breathe in. So by the logic from what he says cyclists are also producing oxygen, therefore that should gain some sort of credits back? Your body just uses what's already out there, not producing more. I mean, further using his logic you could even go as far to say that mountain bikers whilst in the wood or forest are aiding the trees by producing CO2.

[i]Cycling is now bad for the environment[/i]

Well, if so, we're only joining in with [b]everyone else[/b].

😉

I thought this was going to be a piece from here:
[url=www.theonion.com]The Onion[/url]

Cows fart! I thought they were much better mannered than that. Could they not be trained to save all that gas then fart into a bottle while being milked? just think of the possibilities. I could be onto something here, just off to the Patent Office, bye.

That is quite interesting, although I guess the human body and an engine are about as efficient as each other (~20%),[list]

In terms of fuel in vs fuel out yes. But the driver of a car is also producing CO2. And as I am sure you well know, there is a lot of CO2 generated in producing petrol, as there is producing food of course too. But the cyclist could be eating local grass fed beef and carrots from his garden, or he could be eating green beans from peru and Argentinian intensively reared beef.

Also the electric bike assertion in the reports seems to have certain assumptions, that electric bikes are more useful because you can ride them further and they would replace more car journeys. Not necessarily the case for keen cyclists.

 

That CO2 is already part of the existing CO2 cycle.

The carbon in what we breath out comes from the food we eat. This is shipped all around the world. If you fuel your commute be eating air-freighted green beans, you are contributing to climate change. If you eat locally grown food, you're not (as much).

😉

What you breathe out it is not just CO2, a large part is nitrogen and oxygen as you don't use all that you breathe in. So by the logic from what he says cyclists are also producing oxygen, therefore that should gain some sort of credits back?

We're not producing oxygen. We're just breathing out some of the oxygen we breathed in.

I offset my carbon emissions from owning a bicyccle by not have children.

And I have two children - one to cancel out the 'green' benefits of [i]my[/i] bike usage and one to cancel out [i]yours[/i] 😀

What a loon...

If you fuel your commute be eating air-freighted green beans, you are contributing to climate change.

As I said, nothing humans do can be considered completely "environmentally friendly" - it's just some things are less [i]unfriendly[/i] than others.

Besides non-cyclists eat too. Some of them quite a lot.

I accept that producing bikes consumes oil and coal, as does driving to trail heads. But so does producing sofas and watching TV.

Since I don't eat coal or drink oil, my actual cycling produced CO2 doesn't contribute to climate change.

What a tool!

I accept that producing bikes consumes oil and coal

IIRC, building and shipping a bike has the same carbon footprint as one tank of petrol. So, naff all.