There Figure 1 part ( http://www.pietzo.com/storage/downloads/Pietzo_LCAwhitepaper.pdf) is VERY interesting as it includes energy used in manufacturing BUT *where does one find total impact *that includes the prime materials used and THEIR impact (or the environmental cost of obtaining them) on the environment. I hear this a lot in Brazil, that the car fleet that runs on alcohol is "green" because the fuel is renewable and my thinking is that just to produce a single car has huge environmental impact - mines for bauxite, petroleum for rubber and plastics, paints, building factories, ships to haul cars ad infinitum (I know that this all has to be represented in the total unit cost BUT it gets oversimplified as cost rather than being a part of the footprint). I've heard the argument that buses are worse than cars because they get bad mileage and belch nasty diesel smoke BUT I can only imagine what it would look like to join the output of 65 cars that represent each bus passenger AND the production of 65 cars vs. the production of one bus. And just to say it: few here recognize the negative impact of shifting land use to sugar cane production. Greenwashing here is pretty professional.
I'd like to find a table that shows everything from Figure 1 PLUS a breakdown of the cost as shown in pounds of iron/bauxite, "topped" mountains needed for coal production and so forth. Just think of the maintenance/building costs saved if the infrastructure had to contend with a vastly diminished car fleet (just like watching the auto death rates falling with the impact of the current economy, I think we'd have HUGE savings that could be directed to other societal needs - or just stay in the pockets of taxpayers)...... MattB On Sun, Aug 14, 2011 at 12:43 PM, S. Morris Rose <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > Brief article in Slate contrasting the carbon footprint of bicycle > transportation to other fine modes such as automotive. > How soon does a bike pay back its initial carbon > footprint?<http://www.slate.com/id/2300676/> > I'm thinking about switching my daily commute from four wheels to two. > But I'm concerned about all the energy it takes to manufacture and ship a > new bicycle. How many miles would I need to substitute a bike for my car > before I've gone "carbon neutral"? > shared via Mozilla F1 <http://f1.mozillamessaging.com/> for Firefox — > "share > links with the people that matter to you" > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > -- Matthew (Mateus) Berigan *- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * Campina Grande, Paraiba 083-8769-6669 (cell) mandar torpedo http://oitorpedoweb.oi.com.br 608-237-1596 (VOIP EUA) [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
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