Get off your cycle and drive to work - it's better for the environment!
As often as I can, I cycle to work - 19 kilometres from my home in Lower Hutt to Central Wellington, then back again at night. According to my bike computer, I burn 800 calories during my twice daily cycles.
Now, one of the aims of this cycling is that I lose some weight. But somewhere I've had to consume the 800 extra calories, or eventually I'll faint from exhaustion.
Interestingly, 800 calories is about same as eating two cheeseburgers - according to this website (Sorry, I know - American) about 3kg of Carbon pumped into the air from the production and transportation of each cheeseburger. (I've seen other websites claiming 4kg per burger.)
Then there is the extra shower I have to have daily - according to this website, another 2kg of Carbon going into the atmosphere.
So that's 8Kg of carbon emissions I create by cycling.
If I drove the 38km to work per day in my 1.5 litre car, emitting 200gms of carbon per kilometre (new models of that size engine emit about 120-140gms per km - I couldn't find an exact amount for the older model I drive, so I estimated that it's worth an extra 50%) thats 7.6Kg of Carbon emitted - about 5% less than cycling! If I had a new 1.5 litre car it would be about 5kg of carbon emitted - over a third less.
Now, I know these figures aren't exact and are the result of using Google results from overseas as I couldn't find the same information on NZ websites - and the figures are open to challenge. But it does show that swapping from cars to cycling is not a panacea for carbon emissions.
Now, one of the aims of this cycling is that I lose some weight. But somewhere I've had to consume the 800 extra calories, or eventually I'll faint from exhaustion.
Interestingly, 800 calories is about same as eating two cheeseburgers - according to this website (Sorry, I know - American) about 3kg of Carbon pumped into the air from the production and transportation of each cheeseburger. (I've seen other websites claiming 4kg per burger.)
Then there is the extra shower I have to have daily - according to this website, another 2kg of Carbon going into the atmosphere.
So that's 8Kg of carbon emissions I create by cycling.
If I drove the 38km to work per day in my 1.5 litre car, emitting 200gms of carbon per kilometre (new models of that size engine emit about 120-140gms per km - I couldn't find an exact amount for the older model I drive, so I estimated that it's worth an extra 50%) thats 7.6Kg of Carbon emitted - about 5% less than cycling! If I had a new 1.5 litre car it would be about 5kg of carbon emitted - over a third less.
Now, I know these figures aren't exact and are the result of using Google results from overseas as I couldn't find the same information on NZ websites - and the figures are open to challenge. But it does show that swapping from cars to cycling is not a panacea for carbon emissions.
posted by Michael at
7:07 PM
5 Comments:
Those figures are too glib to be taken seriously. There are too many variables. You might gain your 800 calories another way. You might buy your two cheeseburgers from a different outlet. You might consider not regaining those calories, that;s how to lose weight. The electricity used to heat your shower could be generated in many different ways, your car may be poorly maintained, or just underpowered with a heavy chassis. You might spend a consoderable proportion of your car journey sitting idle in traffic, not going anywhere but still emitting pollutants, etc, etc, etc. ;-)
By
Richard, at 2:19 PM
Well, yes - I sometimes do put up a tongue-in-cheek post about a serious issue.
But it's an unexplored topic - does the offset of cycling really get eaten up by extra food consumption
I think my best tongue-in-cheek post was proving that making Winston Peters a Minister causes recessions!
By
Michael, at 7:29 PM
cycling is good for your health in general and is not just about losing weight or how much carbon you put into the atmosphere.
By
Cristian, at 2:22 PM
Why do you need to take an extra shower every day? Seems very indulgent...after all, you're only cycling on the flat.
By
Strategist, at 11:39 AM
Same reason people shower after a session at the gym - they're sweaty and soon to be smelly.
I don't cycle slowly, I go full out for as long as I can.
By
Michael, at 4:00 PM
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