this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2023
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Sustainability

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Topics around green technology and practices that actually work, not the green-washing stuff, and getting off the addition to fossil fuels before we wreck this little ball of dirt we call Earth.

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According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 60% of trips are less than six miles, and three-quarters of all trips are less than 10 miles. We have noted before that this is the fastest ride to zero-carbon; almost anyone can ride an e-bike for six miles under almost any conditions. If there were safe places to ride and secure places to park, then millions of car trips could be avoided, and millions of cars taken off the road. If only e-bikes weren't totally ignored.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Articles usually fail to mention that e-bikes are about 3x more energy efficient than acoustic bikes as well, making them even more attractive from an energy standpoint, as well as more efficient than almost all public transportation. Energy efficiency in transport - Wikipedia

Human powered cycling is further impaired by the ~10 calories of fossil fuel in each calorie we eat, and then burn, on the bike or walking. 10 Calories in, 1 Calorie Out - The Energy We Spend on Food This puts the human cyclist at up to a ~30x energy efficiency disadvantage relative to an e-bike, and that's a big deal - especially if we power up our bike's incredibly low energy needs from low gCO2/kWh electrical sources. Humans are just really, really bad at work. I like bikes and always have, but I'm certainly a pretty big evangelist of the e-bike!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did you ever heard about permaculture ? The real problem is the way we grow food, especially monoculture.
This is not the way nature run things.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yes! I even considered attending a full PDC at one point as I'm a gardener and a farmer and I was very intrigued by the concept when I learned about it. The way we grow food is very much a problem, that is a big part of the argument that Michael Pollan makes in his books and lectures, he's where that 10:1 calorie ratio comes from. Changing the food system to be sustainable without fossil fuels while feeding billions will be a monumental task.

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