We talk a lot about electric (or hydrogen) cars and they are an important part of a lower carbon future, but this article by Christian Brand , Associate Professor in Transport, Energy & Environment at the University of Oxford , explains why they are far from the whole answer for reaching net-zero citites. Globally, only one in 50 new cars were fully electric in 2020, and one in 14 in the UK. Sounds impressive, but even if all new cars were electric now, it would still take 15-20 years to replace the world’s fossil fuel car fleet. The emission savings from replacing all those internal combustion engines with zero-carbon alternatives will not feed in fast enough to make the necessary difference in the time we can spare: the next five years . Tackling the climate and air pollution crises requires curbing all motorised transport, particularly private cars, as quickly as possible. Focusing solely on electric vehicles is slowing down the race to zero emissions . This is partly because electric cars aren’t truly zero-carbon – mining the raw materials for their batteries, manufacturing them and generating the electricity they run on produces emissions. Transport is one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonise due to its heavy fossil fuel use and reliance on carbon-intensive infrastructure – such as roads, airports and the vehicles themselves - and the way it embeds car-dependent lifestyles . One way to reduce transport emissions relatively quickly, and potentially globally , is to swap cars for cycling, e-biking and walking – active travel, as it’s called. Active travel is cheaper, healthier, better for the environment, and no slower on congested urban streets. So how much carbon can it save on a daily basis? And what is its role in reducing emissions from transport overall? In new research , colleagues and I reveal that people who walk or cycle have lower carbon footprints from daily travel, including in cities where lots of people are already doing this. Despite the fact that some walking and cycling happens on top of motorised journeys instead of replacing them, more people switching to active travel would equate to lower carbon emissions from transport on a daily and trip-by-trip basis. What a difference a trip makes We observed around 4,000 people living in London, Antwerp, Barcelona, Vienna, Orebro, Rome and Zurich. Over a two-year period, our participants completed 10,000 travel diary entries which served as records of all the trips they made each day, whether going to work by train, taking the kids to school by car or riding the bus into town. For each trip, we calculated the carbon footprint. Strikingly, people who cycled on a daily basis had 84% lower carbon emissions from all their daily travel than those who didn’t. We also found that the average person who shifted from car to bike for just one day a week cut their carbon footprint by 3.2kg of CO₂ – equivalent to the emissions from driving a car for 10km, eating a serving of lamb or chocolate , or sending 800 emails . When we compared the life cycle of each travel mode, taking into account the carbon generated by making the vehicle, fuelling it and disposing of it, we found that emissions from cycling can be more than 30 times lower for each trip than driving a fossil fuel car, and about ten times lower than driving an electric one. 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 behaviour in this way over the next few years, we estimate it would cut emissions from all car travel in Europe by about 8%. Nearly half of the fall in daily carbon emissions during global lockdowns in 2020 came from reductions in transport emissions. The pandemic forced countries around the world to adapt to reduce the spread of the virus. In the UK, walking and cycling have been the big winners, with a 20% rise in people walking regularly, and cycling levels increasing by 9% on weekdays and 58% on weekends compared to pre-pandemic levels. This is despite cycle commuters being very likely to work from home . Active travel has offered an alternative to cars that keeps social distancing intact. It has helped people to stay safe during the pandemic and it could help reduce emissions as confinement is eased, particularly as the high prices of some electric vehicles are likely to put many potential buyers off for now. So the race is on. Active travel can contribute to tackling the climate emergency earlier than electric vehicles while also providing affordable, reliable, clean, healthy and congestion-busting transportation. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Cycling is great IF the city is set up for it. The road systems and driving culture in a lot of cities, especially here in the US just make it feel very unsafe. Getting the city infrastructure right to let people cycle and walk instead of being almost forced to jump in the car to get around is the first big thing I'd say.

Stasys-Girskis Totally agree. I don't have a lot of experience of US cities, but we were in LA for a while last year and getting anywhere without a car was a bit of a nightmare, the mere suggestion of walking gets most people looking at you as if you are completely insane. That's partially because of the sheer scale of the urban sprawl though, apart from a very small part of Downtown virtually everything is one or two stories high and everything has huge parking next to it, which means that the distances between any two points quickly become huge. Then there is the sheer volume of traffic and a lack of dedicated cycle lanes and riding a bike becomes a bit dodgy. I think in general European cities are doing much better at this, they are more compact generally, and most are taking steps to reduce traffic. Places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen are in many ways more bike friendly than car friendly, have been for a huge period of time and it shows in the number of people who cycle there. Others, like London are catching up as well. London started a 'congestion charge' for people driving into the centre of the city back in 2003, and has added increasingly charges and Ultra Low Emission Zones since then, and the decrease in traffic is really clear. At the same time, they have invested a lot in creating cycle lanes on existing roads and also dedicated cycle 'highways' across the city. It's all very well telling people to get on a bike and ride to work, but it does have to be safe and easy, and cities have to invest in the infrastructure to make that possible.

This is partly because electric cars aren’t truly zero-carbon – mining the raw materials for their batteries, manufacturing them and generating the electricity they run on produces emissions. Exactly, battery electric cars are great but the battery has a high cost. About the manufacturing, I am curious why we don't have more companies changing existing old cars from petrol engines to electric. I know that many systems are different and it might be hard to fit everything in the existing spaces in the right way but by taking out a fuel tank and engine you make a big space.

I love it in summer but not so much in wintertime.

So Veli I love it in summer but not so much in wintertime. This is another important infrastructure part. Cities must make sure that all of the roads and paths are safe and can be accessed by cyclists in all weathers.

So Veli I love it in summer but not so much in wintertime Me too, I am a good weather cyclist only.

So Veli You just need one of these 😁

So Veli I love it in summer but not so much in wintertime. Žaklīna Me too, I am a good weather cyclist only. Ladies, what you need is a Fat Bike to get through the snow 😄

@Treebeard I know you did not just call me fat, right?

Žaklīna Of course no, even online that would just be trouble.

Cycling, not electric cars, is the key to reaching net zero cities

Treebeard

Žaklīna It really would

I am not so stupid

Žaklīna

Treebeard I am not so stupid

I am happy to hear it. 😃

Arvīds

Treebeard I am not so stupid

Dodging the bullet.

Ash

The UK now has brought in a few laws to try and protect both pedestrians and cyclists a bit more. Not much but it's a good start to help them out a bit. The only issue is that they haven't publically mentioned these laws much so most people just won't be aware of the changes.

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