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Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities
(theconversation.com)
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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Paradoxically there are actually some indications that the calories burned while bicycling, especially from a meat-heavy diet, lead to more carbon emissions per mile than powering an electric car with anything other than coal. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1108357_electric-cars-vs-bicycles-which-has-a-higher-carbon-footprint There are still a wide variety of societal benefits to more bicycling but it's not quite accurate say "zero" impact I think.
The link to the raw data is dead, and it contradicts some other research, and also is an article on something that is called"green car reports". Those are indications of maybe not the most unbiased data
"At the extremes, a vegan cyclist will produce only 5% of the emissions a conventional pickup truck will produce, while a meat-loving cyclist will actually produce 42% more GHGs than the most efficient EV. " http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2022/ph240/schutt2/
I'm sure the exact numbers are a little open to interpretation but I've seen it mentioned more than once in different places. That said, I absolutely try to commute on my ebike as much as possible
I saw this page some long time ago. I also find it hard to believe actually. One big thing to note is that even though this is on a Stanford domain, it is probably written by a student "Submitted as coursework for PH240". It is also not peer reviewed, so experts haven't challenged the methodology or results. One criticism which comes to my mind is that the manufacturing of an electric or ICE car usually emits several tons of CO2e, while the bicycle manufacturing emits around 100 kg as cited on the website. Usually the car emissions are then calculated by assuming that the car will be used for some 100 thousand kms, thus the per km CO2 emissions are relatively low. This might not be the case for someone using their car only in cities or not owning a car but using train and bus for long distances.