The huge CO2 savings if short trips were made by bicycle

The world could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 700 million tons each year, the equivalent of Canada’s annual emissions, if everyone rode a bicycle every day like the Dutch do, according to a study published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.

The transport sector accounts for a quarter of all current greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming, and global transport demand is expected to triple by mid-century. Half of these emissions now come from cars whose sales numbers are closely monitored, unlike bicycles.

An international team of researchers compiled the world’s first database on bicycle ownership and use in 60 countries since the early 1960s. According to these researchers, during the period 1962-2015, the number of bicycles produced exceeded the Of automobiles. And China accounted for nearly two-thirds of the more than 123 million bikes made in 2015.

5% of daily bicycle trips

In the 60 countries studied, the proportion of bicycle use for daily commutes was only 5% on average. In some countries, such as the United States, the number of bicycles is high, but their owners tend to consider cycling more as a leisure activity than as a means of daily transport, and short trips are often made by car.

But if everyone cycled an average of 1.6 kilometers a day, the average daily distance for Danes, the world would reduce CO2 emissions by about 414 million tonnes a year, the equivalent of Britain’s annual emissions, according to the researchers’ calculations.

With 2.6 kilometers of bicycle trips per day as in the Netherlands, emissions could be reduced by 686 million tons per year, without counting the benefits for health and for improving air quality. Gang Liu, lead author of the study and professor in the department of green technologies at the University of Southern Denmark, says that the main interest of the study is that it shows that cycling has an important role to play in reducing carbon footprint. of transportation. – while the debate tends to focus on the electrification of cars.