> This is partly because electric cars aren’t truly zero-carbon – mining the raw materials for their batteries, manufacturing them and generating the electricity they run on produces emissions.
Ok. But then unless you're hand making the bikes out of wood you scavenged from fallen trees and don't use rubber tires, neither are bikes.
Like many pro cycling articles this one is one sided and assumes there is one solution to our environmental problems. Sure, we need people to cycle more, but we also need electric cars, changes in how and where we live, changes in what we eat, etc.
Probably the fastest way to impact all of this is internalizing the cost of carbon into all of our activities.. ie a big fat carbon tax.
1) Bikes aren't environmentally free either. Over the lifetime of each is the environmental impact of an ICE car -> EV the same as EV -> bike? Maybe not percentage wise but the data I've seen implies getting the ICE car off the road is the most important step. It's like the comparison of going from 10mpg SUV -> 30mpg compact car is more important than a 30mpg compact car to a 50mpg hybrid.
2) convincing everyone to switch to bicycles isn't realistic. More bikes is better. Wholistic solutions beyond just bikes are required.
Ok. But then unless you're hand making the bikes out of wood you scavenged from fallen trees and don't use rubber tires, neither are bikes.
Like many pro cycling articles this one is one sided and assumes there is one solution to our environmental problems. Sure, we need people to cycle more, but we also need electric cars, changes in how and where we live, changes in what we eat, etc.
Probably the fastest way to impact all of this is internalizing the cost of carbon into all of our activities.. ie a big fat carbon tax.