4 ms·

Depends. If you ride a lot, ebikes are actually more eco-friendly, because electricity is more carbon friendly to produce than the extra calories you'd eat.

hytdstd 4y ago
There's an interesting blog post about this topic: https://keith.seas.harvard.edu/blog/climate-impacts-biking-vs-driving https://keith.seas.harvard.edu/blog/climate-impacts-biking-v...
mjevans 4y ago
Your theory is worth discussing. While in an absolute instant sense energy use might win for the machine, you probably forgot to factor in the lifetime cost of the production of the machine's components. I do not blame you as such a task seems exhaustively daunting, and we only ignore it for the people because who would be heartless enough to think that way? (probably insurance agents, lawyers, and such...) There are also pros and cons to the different elements. Exercise on a bike might have a hard to measure benefit compared to an e-bike. On the other hand adoption pressures and increased hygiene needs are more positive and negative side effects.
- hytdstd 4y ago
  According to this article, ebikes do produce fewer carbon emissions than conventional bikes overall, while considering manufacturing costs: https://www.bikeradar.com/features/long-reads/cycling-environmental-impact/ https://www.bikeradar.com/features/long-reads/cycling-enviro...
brigandish 4y ago
Judging by people's waistlines they're already eating the extra needed for the cycling, they're just not cycling. According to COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas[1], the figures for the UK are: - 63.7% of adults are overweight i.e. BMI >25kg/m2 (2016) - 27.8% of adults are obese i.e. BMI >30kg/m2 (2016) [1] https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covid-19-and-obesity-the-2021-atlas https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covi...
- snovv_crash 4y ago
  Obese people won't get on a bike, though, because it's too big of a step. An ebike is a decent gateway into weight loss.
  - brigandish 4y ago
    Exercise is for health, diet is for weight loss. The overlap exists but is minimal. Exercise activity hermogenesis (often known as EAT, ironically) is usually estimated to be around 5% of total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). I wouldn't be surprised if the obese people in question started to exercise and actually increased their food intake to match.
scatters 4y ago
That's assuming you'd just eat less, instead of eating the same and burning it off at the gym. Or getting fat.

hytdstd 4y ago

There's an interesting blog post about this topic: https://keith.seas.harvard.edu/blog/climate-impacts-biking-vs-driving https://keith.seas.harvard.edu/blog/climate-impacts-biking-v...

mjevans 4y ago

Your theory is worth discussing. While in an absolute instant sense energy use might win for the machine, you probably forgot to factor in the lifetime cost of the production of the machine's components. I do not blame you as such a task seems exhaustively daunting, and we only ignore it for the people because who would be heartless enough to think that way? (probably insurance agents, lawyers, and such...) There are also pros and cons to the different elements. Exercise on a bike might have a hard to measure benefit compared to an e-bike. On the other hand adoption pressures and increased hygiene needs are more positive and negative side effects.

hytdstd 4y ago
According to this article, ebikes do produce fewer carbon emissions than conventional bikes overall, while considering manufacturing costs: https://www.bikeradar.com/features/long-reads/cycling-environmental-impact/ https://www.bikeradar.com/features/long-reads/cycling-enviro...

brigandish 4y ago

Judging by people's waistlines they're already eating the extra needed for the cycling, they're just not cycling. According to COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas[1], the figures for the UK are: - 63.7% of adults are overweight i.e. BMI >25kg/m2 (2016) - 27.8% of adults are obese i.e. BMI >30kg/m2 (2016) [1] https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covid-19-and-obesity-the-2021-atlas https://www.worldobesity.org/resources/resource-library/covi...

snovv_crash 4y ago
Obese people won't get on a bike, though, because it's too big of a step. An ebike is a decent gateway into weight loss.
- brigandish 4y ago
  Exercise is for health, diet is for weight loss. The overlap exists but is minimal. Exercise activity hermogenesis (often known as EAT, ironically) is usually estimated to be around 5% of total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). I wouldn't be surprised if the obese people in question started to exercise and actually increased their food intake to match.

scatters 4y ago

That's assuming you'd just eat less, instead of eating the same and burning it off at the gym. Or getting fat.