Organic Lifestyle Magazine

Research Shows Cycling Is More Important For Reducing Carbon Emissions Than Electric Cars

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With the ever-present threat of climate change, many people are constantly talking about the most important thing we can do to cut carbon emissions. New research shows that cycling could be 10 times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero emissions cities.

In 2020, one in 50 new cars was fully electric, globally. Even if all new cars were electric, it would still take an estimated 15-20 years to replace the world’s cars running on fossil fuels.

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The emissions savings from switching to zero-carbon alternatives isn’t enough to make the difference we need in the time we have left to spare. Not to mention, electric cars aren’t completely emissions-free. The materials for the batteries, manufacturing, and the electricity used to run them all produce emissions.

Active traveling on the other-hand (walking and biking) is cheaper and better for both you and the environment. Research has shown that those who walk or cycle have lower carbon footprints than those who don’t even if they just walking and biking on top of motorized travel.

Researchers observed 4,000 people in London, Antwerp, Barcelona, Vienna, Orebro, Rome, and Zurich over a two-year period. Over the two years, participants logged a total of 10,00 travel diary entries documenting all the trips they make each day.

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We also estimate that urban residents who switched from driving to cycling for just one trip per day reduced their carbon footprint by about half a tonne of CO2 over the course of a year, and save the equivalent emissions of a one-way flight from London to New York. If just one in five urban residents permanently changed their travel behavior in this way over the next few years, we estimate it would cut emissions from all car travel in Europe by about 8%.

Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

People who cycled on a daily basis had 84% lower carbon emissions from their daily travel than those who didn’t. Additionally, if the average person switched from a car to a bike just one day a week, they cut their emissions by a carbon footprint o 3.2kg of CO2. Research showed that emissions from cycling can be 30 times lower than a fossil fuel car, and 10 times lower than an electric car.




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Sage Edwards

Sage Edwards

Sage is a writer and photographer for Organic Lifestyle Magazine. At 18 years old Sage weighed more than 320 pounds. After years of being in persistent pain at such a young age, she decided it was time for a change. She started cranberry lemonade, a salad a day, cut out refined sugar and processed foods, Sage lost 100 pounds in less than a year. Today she likes to start her mornings with a run and weight lifting, and a big salad. She enjoys cooking, working out, and learning about health and the way of the Organic Lifestyle.

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