this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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utility cycling
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Could we subsidise all bikes and let people pay more for the "E" part if they so choose? How is an Ebike any better than a normal one? It has a more significant footprint behind it.
Problem is, if you subsidise anything the prices rise to match the subsidy. Perhaps tax breaks for bicycle and e-bike riders with enough degrees of separation that bike manufacturers and retailers don't see it coming.
A couple of years back I saw some napkin math claiming e-bikes has a lower CO-2 impact than normal bikes or walking since power plants and motors are more effective than your body at energy conversion. Couldn't find the same source (and it was in my language anyways) but did find this (with a ton of other sites claiming similar things when searching)
Aren't we supposed to be growing and eating local food in a solarpunk future?
Just finished reading @poVoq@slrpnk.net's link, and it is a bit more detailed than the food footprint.
I'd love to, but until then I don't want to starve or hold off on movement :D
Thanks for bringing my attention to that source, much better! Seems similar as to how I remembered it but I could obviously have worded it better
Thank poVoq. lowtech is the posterchild for most of what we are discussing.
I find it interesting you can get basically different results by focusing on singular points. I can't imagine in the future there will be a strong mining industry still churning out batteries that fit every proprietary connector. Perhaps if the e-bike industry went open source and shared designs would be the best of both worlds.
A used, commonly found steel framed bike with nonproprietary parts, local carbohydrates, downhill both ways sounds like the perfect situation.