Bicycles and environmental problems
Are bicycles ecological?
In recent years, bicycles are attracting attention as eco-friendly vehicles.
There are many municipalities that actively promote the use of bicycles that are environmentally friendly.
It is undertaken also in Kashiwa city and Chiba city of Chiba prefecture where our members live.
Smart move
Let's make everyday move! There is an effort called smart move. This is an effort to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions by devising various means of travel normally used. It is spreading nationwide.
政府広報オンライン ＞ 暮らしに役立つ情報
Is the bicycle really ecological?
Consider Bicycles and environmental problems.
CO2 emissions
CO2 (carbon dioxide), which is the cause of global warming. CO2 emissions from households accounted for 16% of the total despite a slight decline in recent years. Among them, the emissions associated with "movement" such as commuting, school shopping, shopping, and traveling are large proportions exceeding 22%. (Per fraction per household)
家庭部門における二酸化炭素（CO2）排出の動向 - JCCCA 全国地球温暖化防止活動推進センター
There is no doubt that bicycles that do not use fuels such as oil and gas are eco-friendly vehicles, but how much can they contribute to environmental problems compared to other vehicles?
In passenger transportation, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from each transportation agency is divided by the transportation amount (human kilometer: multiplied by the distance transported to the number of people transported) to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per unit transport volume is.
* Figures showing CO2 emissions per vehicle when one person moves 1 km
Based on "国土交通省 運輸部門における二酸化炭素排出量データ"
From this figure you can see how ecological the bicycle is more eco-friendly than other ones, but this alone is an easy idea, "Bicycles are eco-friendly! Come on! Let's all ride a bicycle." It is impossible for us to move by plane the distance of an airplane, and there are various reasons for traveling such as long distances, carrying luggage and so on. We should choose something that is environmentally friendly with the usage method suitable for the purpose.
Specific example of CO2 emission reduction
Next, how can we reduce CO2 emissions by utilizing our method? I will concretely think about it.
Example 1) Most of our students go to school by school bus from the nearest station. It is assumed that 500 people, which is about 60% of 865 students in high school, changed their way of going to school by school bus.
◆Nearest station → school = 2.1 km
◆Bus movement 67 g / km × round trip 4.2 Km = 28.14 g / day × 500 people = 14,070 g / day
◆14,070 g × 24 days = 337,680 g (1 month) × 12 = 4,052 kilograms (1 year)
By continuing every day for 2 kilometers just like this, we can contribute to CO2 reduction.
