The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
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Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#2anecdotally i get about 60 miles to the burrito.
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#3anecdotally i get about 60 miles to the burrito.
Is that city or highway burritos?
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#4"Despite the intuitive sense that electric bikes would require more resources than regular bikes, life-cycle analysis shows that they actually consume 2-4 times less primary energy than human riders eating a conventional diet. This conclusion is largely due to the considerable amount of transportation and processing energy that is associated with our western food system."
And obviously, caveat lector: there are huge assumptions going on here, because the "real" cost of stuff like food and batteries aren't trivial to calculate at all. It's not like you can feed em both the same resources anyhow, so at best this is an analysis that the efficiency is sort of comparable. In 2004.
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#5"Despite the intuitive sense that electric bikes would require more resources than regular bikes, life-cycle analysis shows that they actually consume 2-4 times less primary energy than human riders eating a conventional diet. This conclusion is largely due to the considerable amount of transportation and processing energy that is associated with our western food system." And obviously, caveat lector: there are huge…
Yes, does it take into account the energy cost of the ambulance that comes to collect you after you had a heart attack after getting fat because you didn't burn off what you were eating....
On the other hand, from what I understand in the Netherlands, ebikes help older people keep cycling for longer so ebikes are still good?
I would guess overall, the difference between bike and ebike is a rounding error compared to not riding at all. Both environmentally, and from a health pov.
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#6I think this is one of the few edge cases where gifs could improve the comments on HN
https://tenor.com/view/walle-humans-lazy-eve-disney-gif-5471...
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#7"Despite the intuitive sense that electric bikes would require more resources than regular bikes, life-cycle analysis shows that they actually consume 2-4 times less primary energy than human riders eating a conventional diet. This conclusion is largely due to the considerable amount of transportation and processing energy that is associated with our western food system." And obviously, caveat lector: there are huge…
Yes, does it take into account the energy cost of the ambulance that comes to collect you after you had a heart attack after getting fat because you didn't burn off what you were eating.... On the other hand, from what I understand in the Netherlands, ebikes help older people keep cycling for longer so ebikes are still good? I would guess overall, the difference between bike and ebike is a rounding error compared to…
In any case I definitely know nobody who ate more because they rode a bike. Some might get a bit more exercise or will get a bit less fat but I m firmly against the assumption that you'll et more if you ride in current wester societies.
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#8> The metabolic efficiency of a human on a bicycle is remarkably good. Calorimetric studies have shown that a properly trained athlete will have
efficiencies of 22 to 26% depending on pedal cadence and power output.
Anectdote about this, is that my watt meter on my bicycle gives out the total amount of work done in kJ at the end. To convert that to kcal in food, one can convert 1-to-1, as the metabolic efficiency matches roughly the ratio between kcal and kJ.
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, does it take into account the energy cost of the ambulance that comes to collect you after you had a heart attack after getting fat because you didn't burn off what you were eating.... On the other hand, from what I understand in the Netherlands, ebikes help older people keep cycling for longer so ebikes are still good? I would guess overall, the difference between bike and ebike is a rounding error compared to…
In any case I definitely know nobody who ate more because they rode a bike. Some might get a bit more exercise or will get a bit less fat but I m firmly against the assumption that you'll et more if you ride in current wester societies.
When I cycled to work I did eat more, but that was 30+ miles a day up and down hills. It was also on an ebike (whatever that proves) and I would say it was more carbs than air freighted fresh veg and meat, so not the most carbon intensive food.
But yes I don't think most people eat their full extra cycling energy expenditure when they take up cycling.
Re: The Energy Cost of Electric and Human-Powered Bicycles (2004) [pdf]
#10That's from 2004. Are the numbers still valid?