A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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August 10, 2007People Fuel More Expensive Than Automobile FuelTyler Cowen had a post joining in on a discussion about fuel cost dimensions of walking vs biking vs walking. Somebody was claiming that the auto uses less carbon than walking. I've been comparing biking and car commute fuel costs myself, and, for me, the biking is clearly IS more expensive, fuel-wise, 50-100%. I pay more for both more human food and rehydration stuff than for car food, since I have much higher standards than the car does. If you can manage to have fewer cars (mostly, I have), then my math says the bike wins overall, cost-wise. It's not a big interest of mine, but I suspect the pollution comparison is likely to be not too far off the way the cost comparison goes. One claim that shows up in comments is that people who walk or bike will weigh less than otherwise because now they're exercising and thus see little gain in food consumption. Except, a sizeable part of the population already exercises, and thus will see no reduction from that. I'm having trouble thinking of people I know who don't even walk regularly. I exercise whether or not commuting is involved, and my food consumption DOES go up. Posted by Jon Kay at August 10, 2007 01:32 AMComments
I eat the same whether bike commuting or car commuting (actually maybe a little less). I also drink tap water to rehydrate. If you are drinking bottled water to rehydrate, it will be more expensive because the bottled water industry is a racket. Dominic Kennedy's comparisons are flawed because he goes into every aspect of processing beef to calculate CO2, but they do not go into every aspect of building a car, drilling for oil, transporting oil, refining gasoline, transporting gasoline etc...to get the CO2 calculations for driving. This guy is an idiot. Posted by: GodhatesShrimp at August 10, 2007 05:26 PMDominic Kennedy's comparisons are flawed because he goes into every aspect of processing beef to calculate CO2, but they do not go into every aspect of building a car, drilling for oil, transporting oil, refining gasoline, transporting gasoline etc...to get the CO2 calculations for driving. Haven't reviewed that, but sure would be relevant. Of course, just because people might bike/walk more doesn't mean they'd forego buying cars. Urban sprawl is a reality, and it's not going away absent government compulsions. We can talk about smart growth all we want, but for most metros the auto is somewhat of a necessity and will be for the foreseeable future. Most of those inclined to walk or bike rather than drive already do so. I think there are some problems with the original equations. I have been biking about 40 miles a week for three months. I do need more to eat, but there is no doubt I'm in better shape and this hopefully will translate into more work productivity and a longer life, thus reducing some medical costs which the proposition does not cover.. The expense of making a bike v a car is enormous as bikes will become composite and the new de-railerless hubs will reduce the metallic components (see Popular Mechanics last month). As far as urban sprawl, I suspect we will eventually have cars that are more environmentally sound that can cover short ranges at low cost like smaller electrical cars thus eliminating the larger gas consuming cars. I saw a cool car in NYC recently. It was a two-seater with an enclosed front end fully decked out (and quite cool looking. The back was a single huge motorcycle tire, thus only three wheels with the motor enclosed behind the front compartment.. The drive told me the mileage was fantastic, the car extremely stable and it could be modified to run on about anything. The top speed was over one hundred miles an hour. Something like this could help mitigate the consequence of transport from urban sprawl as well as developing faster, cleaner public transportation. Posted by: Maxtrue at August 11, 2007 09:53 AMBut Max, if you live longer, you'll use more resources! How selfish of you. ;-) Posted by: Tully at August 11, 2007 10:44 PMReceive quick loan approvals. Payday advances of up to $500. Cash is deposited ... Dollar Advance Cash advances deposited directly into your personal ...1000 easy payday loan Posted by: smereetajem at September 15, 2007 07:12 AM |
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