Ebikes + renewable energy is more efficient even than a human riding a traditional bike! The energy has to come from somewhere.
this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2023
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Why should regular bikes use more energy, given they're only manufactured once (as are bikes), have no degenerating batteries and don't need electricity are less efficient than ebikes?
I don't think this is true. Ebikes are actually not very sustainable: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/02/can-we-make-bicycles-sustainable-again/
But if it replaces a car, it is still very nice!
It's strange that they didn't include the food offset by the ebike though. This link tries to give a comparison between the two accounting for a typical European diet (which is also far more sustainable than the typical American diet).
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/long-reads/cycling-environmental-impact/
I think it is reasonable to ignore food, since it will be more or less equal to the energy you would spend exercising in other ways (jogging, gym, ...). Especially when commiting in a city (<10km).
But your link still shows a nice overview when taking that into account specifically!