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"As a cyclist, you claim to care about the environment, yet you consume food. Checkmate libs!"
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this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
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This is why ebikes produce less CO2 per mile than regular bikes. Even if you're getting your electricity from coal, battery and motor efficiency are so much higher than food digestion and muscle movement.
The ebike starts life from the factory with a higher CO2 cost, though, and it never quite catches up over its expected life.
Both are orders of magnitude lower CO2 than a car (both production cost and per mile cost). The lifetime CO2 cost of an ebike vs normal bike is so small, and the gulf between either of those and a car is so big, that anyone pointing to this in favor of cars is an idiot. If an ebike is what gets you to bike more, do it. Any movement from cars and onto bikes is a huge win, battery or not.
I seriously doubt that it would be better "even of you get your electricity from coal".
I did a project on coal plants in college. Our research showed that a single coalplant in Germany (as of 2012). Produced more pollutants in 1 month. Than every single registered vehicle in Sweden combined, over a whole year.
I'm not trying to say driving a car is better If you could take a bike. Don't get me wrong.
I just think you're underestimating just how incredibly bad coal power is.
You would be better off charging your batteries from a diesel generator, than from electricity produced by coal.
Yup, it's better. You're underestimating how inefficient biological processes are and how carbon intensive food production is.
https://eponline.com/articles/2023/01/13/environmental-impact-of-bikes-and-e-bikes.aspx
There are a range of numbers that depend on how you get your power and how you get your food. The high end of CO2 per km traveled for ebikes is the same as the low end for regular bikes.
This doesn't account for all the other terrible stuff coal puts out, of course.
Now, again, the numbers are close enough that it's barely worth quibbling about, but it is a difference.