The Biking Revolution: How We Can Individually Combat Climate Change

It doesn’t come as a surprise the world climate change discussion has focused its attention on bicycles. The options bicycles offer citizens – and cities – continues to grow.

A single passenger car produces about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Lower figures begin to appear if each passenger car were replaced by a bicycle.

Of course, at Ciclismo Classico, we like to dream big. We understand most of our guests fly commercially to reach our European destinations. And flying is inevitable for longer distances.

But what if bicycle travel converted into bicycle commuting at home?

Sure, the airplane is there. If you use your bicycle or not, you will still need to fly to get to where you dream of going.

However, if we left the car in the garage during our daily lives and spent more time on our bicycles, an impact on a global scale would start right at home

Here are 5 improvements to the global climate situation we’d see happen over just a few years:

Reduced Carbon Emissions:

Everyone seems convinced bicycling will cut the carbon footprint significantly.

Or are they?

If you are Washington Sen. Ed Orcutt you think the faster a cyclist pedals, the harder she breathes thus releasing more CO2 into the air. You’d probably go as far as to say that cycling is bad for the environment, as this Velonews article reported in 2013.

Otherwise, you could breakdown the carbon footprint of every banana, every hamburger and every air-freighted asparagus used to fuel your mile on two wheels. But if you don’t have the time or the math skills, The Guardian has already run the formulas for you.

These arguments may convince you that bicycling doesn’t help the planet at all.

But in actuality, they don’t.

The biggest difference comes from (again) when you swallow those asparagus and jump in your car burning precious fossil fuels. No one ever said riding a bicycle produces zero emissions. But it certainly produces less than an automobile.

So if you consider a driver making one considerable change in his life, it’s to leave the car at home and bike (or at least walk).

Global Change: Personal Habits

A 2015 study by the Institute of Transportation & Development Policy concludes that if there were a strong, global, shift in these habits, 11% of emissions would be reduced by 2050 if everyone started using their bicycles.

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, analysis done in 2011 demonstrated the city’s bike-share program decreased pollution by carbon emissions, reducing it by 9,000 metric tons, each year.

Thus, there are still pundits suggesting bicycling doesn’t have much of an effect on carbon emissions. Yet science proves differently. However, there is one detail behind the climate change debate that automobiles can’t outrun: rising global temperatures

Just Chill Out:

Last year, Carlton Reid wrote a fantastic article in Forbes titled, “Bicycling Could Help Save the Planet.” He highlighted the International Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5° global temperature limit. The committee (IPCC) stated that to prevent irreversible global changes from occurring, we need to prevent the earth’s temperature from rising more than 1.5° by 2050.

What is striking about this report is that the science aims at, “where we live and work,” and not some far-off remote locality. They weren’t focusing on industry. The solution is here – they say: in your backyard.

The committee suggests that citizens take to “non-motorized transport” such as walking and bike riding.

If we want to slow down the warming of the planet, burning fewer fossil fuels and creating fewer emissions seems to be the answer.

Enable the City to Cycle:

If Barcelona can cut down on carbon emissions just by introducing a bike-sharing program, imagine what Amsterdam has done.

This super-bike friendly city is one of our highlights on Isacco Colombo‘s Top Guide Tour this year: Bike Across the Netherlands. And here is why we like Holland so much.

The key facts from Amsterdam are staggering when you start to look at what could be possible in other metropolitan cities. According to the Enabling Cycling Cities report compiled by Civitas Mimosa, Amsterdam claims 800,000 inhabitants with 800,000 bicycles. The city lies over 219 km2 of which one quarter is water; there are 500km of bicycle paths and 50% of all journeys take place by bike.

Of course, it would take a while to get residents of any city to embrace the attitude of the Dutch, but we can already start to imagine the world-wide implications if there was one bike per person in every city, being used at least 50% of the time on local trips.

And with more bikes and fewer cars on the road, science shows the city becomes safer for everyone.

More Bikes, Fewer Roadways:

Congestion in London has always been an issue. But with an increase in bike lanes, more people are taking to the bicycle and staying off the roads.

The Guardian reports on the significance of this change. 75% of congestion in London is caused by too many cars in limited street space. During peak hours over 46% of commuters are opting to ride their bikes. Hence, the fewer automobiles there are, the less street space is needed.

As a result, city planners won’t need to widen roadways or create new roads in busy centers. In a European capital such as London, the city is constantly expanding. Where almost three days are lost per person due to congestion, it makes sense to use more bicycles and fewer automobiles for local businesses and urban residents.

Breathe Freely:

A reduction in carbon emission and a decrease in roadway construction will help increase the quality of air in urban centers.

But we aren’t the only ones who believe so.

According to a report by the European Cyclists’ Federation entitled Cycling and Urban Air Quality, the results are obvious. “The main conclusion,” they state, “that can be drawn from this study is that cycling measures can improve urban air quality levels as part of a package of measures directed at reducing overall road traffic.”

Brake for Bambi:

We could cite hundreds of articles and studies by environmental agencies looking to re-populate forests with native animal species. These natural habitats have seen a reduction in local wildlife due to the increase of automobiles (specifically as a result of noise pollution).

Bikes make less noise than cars and those animals near bike paths have returned to their natural habitats. Imagine if we put more bike paths on the ground.

And there would be less road-kill as well. That’s always good for the local species.

Let us know what your thoughts are on climate change and the involvement of the bicycle. Drop us a line or comment below.