Most Energy-Efficient Form of Travel Ever Devised
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 07.27.07
This writer and his computer have both been sick, one with the flu, the other a wonky hard drive, so we apologise for the lack of bicycle posts.
Let’s get back up to speed with this quick bike primer from the very fine Sightline Institute, (previously known as the Northwest Environment Watch, who once published great works like Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things.)
We particularly love an early para: “The bicycle—the most energy-efficient form of travel ever devised—deserves better. Pound for pound, a person on a bicycle expends less energy than any creature or machine covering the same distance. (A human walking spends about three times as much energy per pound; even a salmon swimming spends about twice as much.)”
And how could we go past these closing remarks: “Other nations have already made bicycling a priority: the Netherlands, for example, spends 10 percent of its roads budget to support bicycle facilities. British author H. G. Wells may have summed it up best more than a half century ago: ‘When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.’” ::Sightline Institute.
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Green Glossary: Planet Bike
- Be a Green Volunteer in Portland
- Spare Yourself from Road Raging Bike Haters: How to Avoid Anti-Cyclism
- Sustainable Bamboo Exercise Gear is Here!
- Why You Must Bike; Plus, How to Make it Convenient and Enjoyable
- Is School Food Harming Kids? Enlist a Labor Day Eat-In To Promote Fresh, Healthy Food
My favorite (already posted a few times but gets lost... ) I like the H.G.Wells comment.
Modern industrialized states [are] resentful of a few cleverly arranged pounds of tubes and spokes. The cyclist creates everything from almost nothing, becoming the most energy-efficient of all moving animals and machines and, as such, has a disingenuous ability to challenge the entire value system of a society. Cyclists don't consume enough. They can propel themselves 1500 pollution-free miles on the energy equivalent of a gallon of petrol. The bicycle may be too cheap, too available, too healthy, too independent and too equitable for its own good. In an age of excess it is minimal and has the subversive potential to make people happy in an economy fuelled by consumer discontent. Jim McGurn, 1994
Coming off the Manhattan Bridge yesterday while at the street crossing, about 8 - 10 bike commuters came to wait at the red light. And it wasn't even Critical Mass Friday!
vsk
The bicycle—the most energy-efficient form of travel ever devised
An eGo cycle uses 61% of the energy of a bicycle, mile-for-mile.
As an avid cyclist, I love the vein of your post. To be honest, and despite its impracticalities in many situations, the title of the most fuel efficient method of travel is actually sailing!
Does this call into account the energy used to create the infastructure (asphalt/roads) to ride the bike on?
Don't get me wrong, I am an avid cyclist, both for pleasure and transportation.
Just wondering, how does a mountain bike compair to a walking person?
you don't need asphalt to bike on. hard pack gravel will do. I actually prefer pothole ridden streets because it makes people slow down and look where they are going.