As the world faces a looming climate change catastrophe, it is more important than ever to consider your impact on the environment. While solar panels and electric cars are beginning to gain in popularity, both of these technologies are surprisingly lacking in honest environmental benefits. This is because a product’s environmental footprint must incorporate its full lifespan, both before and after production. Electric bikes are an almost ideal case study in environmentally friendly production. Here are some environmental benefits of electric bikes.
Low Footprint Production Cycle
Compared with automobiles, bikes take up considerably fewer resources to produce. They also take much less carbon-fueled production machinery. Because all of the parts needed for a single product often need to be shipped to an assembly warehouse, the more complex a product is, it takes exponentially more carbon to make. Electric bikes are slightly harder to make than standard bikes, but their electric motors pay off on the environment in other ways.
Low Energy Costs
Whether you realize it or not, biking has fuel costs just like driving. As you ride, you use up calories that must be replaced in order for you to feel nourished and energetic. While consuming food is generally better for the environment than burning fuel, it still exerts a carbon cost on the earth. A hybrid ebike has a motor that allows users to compensate for pedaling energy with electric power. Over time, this can save you a lot of calories, resulting in less environmental waste and sparing landfills an excess in food waste. Although charging a motor costs a small amount of energy, this can be done using renewable sources, such as wind or solar power.
Low Pollution
Perhaps the most well-known and popular benefit of electric bikes for the environment is their lack of emissions. An ebike itself produces zero emissions. That’s right! If everyone on earth rode an ebike to work instead of a car or truck, the world would be far nearer the widely lauded “One Planet” goal for the average human consumption of resources. Having no pollution output also means that every ebike contributes a little bit to a healthier supply of city air.
Increased Mental Association With Nature
When you ride outdoors, you may develop a relationship with nature that a car simply can’t afford. As you smell the fresh air and ride through parks and city squares, you develop a special relationship with your surroundings that may pervade the rest of your life. It is easy to feel detached from the environment when you spend most of your day on highways in a car or a fluorescent office. Connecting with nature triggers your innate human sense of oneness with the earth. As the worldwide popularity of bikes continues to increase, there may be a corresponding increase in the number of people who openly care about the environment.
If you have been looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint, riding an ebike instead of a car can have a real impact. If you can’t find a local store, look for ebikes online that can be shipped in your area.
