It’s funny because it’s true!

[Bilsko]

I’ll just leave this here: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/11/mpg-of-a-human/

[GuyContinental]

@Bilsko 31482 wrote:

I’ll just leave this here: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/11/mpg-of-a-human/

Yawwwnnn- I eat whether I drive or ride- the whole bikers get a lower (or nearly equivalent) mpg than cars thing holds precisely no weight in my book. But it’s a well written and fun-to-read analysis.

[rcannon100]

This: http://www.zeropergallon.com/

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1721[/ATTACH]

[Bilsko]

Dont forget this one
[IMG]http://johnfenzel.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451608369e200e553a16e208834-800wi[/IMG]

[Certifried]

I don’t enjoy putting gasoline in my car.

I enjoy putting fuel in my stomach.

interestingly, I was doing a (very) rough calculation of costs for me the other day. My ~47 mile commute costs me $3.20 in bus fair (which cuts 10 miles off an already too long commute), then the food costs because I do eat more when I bike. My car gets 35 MPG, and is about 54 miles, so roughly 1.5 gallons or $6 of gas. I won’t even calculate my time, 4 hours door-to-door basically for the round-trip bike and about 45-60 minutes door-to-door car.

Is it cheaper to bike? Not really. I used to ride Metro from Bethesda to Suitland instead of driving, 90 minutes on Metro vs. 45 in the car (my commutes are against the flow of rush traffic). Metro was definitely more expensive. I just hate driving in this area. I hate the drivers in this area. I’d rather spend more money on food to fuel myself for 4 hours of cycling to go 47 miles plus bus ride, and $3.20 bus fare to get to work. It’s all the “intangibles” that add up for me that just can’t be overcome by the negatives that driving brings.

[happynicky]

it’s funny

[happynicky]

@Bilsko 31490 wrote:

Dont forget this one
[IMG]http://johnfenzel.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451608369e200e553a16e208834-800wi[/IMG]

it’s really funny

[jnva]

My ebike gets 15 watt-hours per mile. I’m not good at math – can someone convert that to mpg equivalent? Just curious to know how it compares to a Prius or volt electric car.

[KelOnWheels]

@jnva 31653 wrote:

My ebike gets 15 watt-hours per mile. I’m not good at math – can someone convert that to mpg equivalent? Just curious to know how it compares to a Prius or volt electric car.

According to The Intertubes, 20 watt-hours per mile is somewhere around 800 MPG.

[Bilsko]

@KelOnWheels 31656 wrote:

According to The Intertubes, 20 watt-hours per mile is somewhere around 800 MPG.

800mpg is close, but its possibly much better than that.

In Vienna, you’re getting your power from Dominion. They do rely on a lot of coal generation (almost 50%) for their fuel mix, but they have a decent amount of nuclear capacity (35%), some hydro and a decent amount of natural gas too (15-20%). The mix of emissions from those plants depends on how they are dispatched (the nuclear is reliable and expensive so they run it all the time, some coal is run a lot, other coal is used for intermediate power, and gas is frequently used for flexible peaking needs). Its hard to find recent, reliable numbers for Dominion’s emissions, but a few sources (Dominion, the NRDC, etc.) all hover around 1100-1200 lbs of CO2 for every MWh generated (that’s 1,000,000 Wh). So we can back into the number:
1,150 lbs of CO2/MWh or 0.00115 lbs/Wh.
15Wh to go a mile on your bike will get you 0.017lbs of CO2 per mile traveled. (Picture a tablespoon’s worth)

There are 19.6 lbs of CO2 produced when you combust a gallon of gasoline. So, you could travel 1,136 miles on your bike and produce the same amount of CO2 emissions as if you had burned a gallon of gasoline to do so.

The calculations are quite a bit more complex when you take into account the notion of marginal emissions, T&D losses, charging losses for the bike’s battery, etc. (Typically, the last units of electricity generated by a utility are very often the dirtiest/most expensive to produce, in Virginia and the Carolinas Marginal Emissions are about 62% greater than Average emissions). When you charge your bike, you’re requiring the utility to produce just a little bit more power to cover your electric load – and you can make the argument that that electricity is quite a bit dirtier than the average. (If you run those numbers, you end up with a figure more like 780mpg). Either way, its the subject of a lot of discussion and debate as PHEV and EVs enter the market and create increased demand for operating marginal power and built marginal power.

[jnva]

Any idea how much, if any imported and or refined gasoline is used to generate electricity in this area? I assume very little.

[Bilsko]

@jnva 31669 wrote:

Any idea how much, if any imported and or refined gasoline is used to generate electricity in this area? I assume very little.

Gasoline wouldn’t be any part of the fuel mix for the electric utility (Its far too valuable for transporation to be used for electricity).

As far as ‘imported’ fossil fuels go, its possible (but not too likely) that some of the coal is imported – this is easy enough to check using the fuel receipts for the coal plants in VA (made available in the EIA 923 report, if I recall correctly). The natural gas is almost certainly entirely domestic.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Bilsko 31667 wrote:

800mpg is close, but its possibly much better than that.

In Vienna, you’re getting your power from Dominion. They do rely on a lot of coal generation (almost 50%) for their fuel mix, but they have a decent amount of nuclear capacity (35%), some hydro and a decent amount of natural gas too (15-20%). The mix of emissions from those plants depends on how they are dispatched (the nuclear is reliable and expensive so they run it all the time, some coal is run a lot, other coal is used for intermediate power, and gas is frequently used for flexible peaking needs). Its hard to find recent, reliable numbers for Dominion’s emissions, but a few sources (Dominion, the NRDC, etc.) all hover around 1100-1200 lbs of CO2 for every MWh generated (that’s 1,000,000 Wh). So we can back into the number:
1,150 lbs of CO2/MWh or 0.00115 lbs/Wh.
15Wh to go a mile on your bike will get you 0.017lbs of CO2 per mile traveled. (Picture a tablespoon’s worth)

There are 19.6 lbs of CO2 produced when you combust a gallon of gasoline. So, you could travel 1,136 miles on your bike and produce the same amount of CO2 emissions as if you had burned a gallon of gasoline to do so.

The calculations are quite a bit more complex when you take into account the notion of marginal emissions, T&D losses, charging losses for the bike’s battery, etc. (Typically, the last units of electricity generated by a utility are very often the dirtiest/most expensive to produce, in Virginia and the Carolinas Marginal Emissions are about 62% greater than Average emissions). When you charge your bike, you’re requiring the utility to produce just a little bit more power to cover your electric load – and you can make the argument that that electricity is quite a bit dirtier than the average. (If you run those numbers, you end up with a figure more like 780mpg). Either way, its the subject of a lot of discussion and debate as PHEV and EVs enter the market and create increased demand for operating marginal power and built marginal power.

Whoa, very informative. I do have one question though. How does 1 gallon of gasoline, weighing in at about six pounds, produce 19.6 pounds of CO2? Does that include the entire production cycle and petroleum byproducts that get consumed as well?

[culimerc]

The increase in weight is due to Oxygen molecules being added to the weight of the waste product.

[KelOnWheels]

@Bilsko 31667 wrote:

800mpg is close, but its possibly much better than that.

In Vienna, you’re getting your power from Dominion. They do rely on a lot of coal generation (almost 50%) for their fuel mix, but they have a decent amount of nuclear capacity (35%), some hydro and a decent amount of natural gas too (15-20%). The mix of emissions from those plants depends on how they are dispatched (the nuclear is reliable and expensive so they run it all the time, some coal is run a lot, other coal is used for intermediate power, and gas is frequently used for flexible peaking needs). Its hard to find recent, reliable numbers for Dominion’s emissions, but a few sources (Dominion, the NRDC, etc.) all hover around 1100-1200 lbs of CO2 for every MWh generated (that’s 1,000,000 Wh). So we can back into the number:
1,150 lbs of CO2/MWh or 0.00115 lbs/Wh.
15Wh to go a mile on your bike will get you 0.017lbs of CO2 per mile traveled. (Picture a tablespoon’s worth)

So wait – do I have to carry the CO2 in the tablespoon while I’m riding?

*went to art school – fears math*

[Author]

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