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So for approximately $.50 (candy bar) one can cyclehttp://www.uark.edu/depts/physics/about/hobson.html
as far as about $.80
worth of gasoline carries you in a (not very
efficient) car. Of course, add
another passenger to the car and the figures change.
Then there is all the
problem with weather and especially safety. The
bike does use renewable
fuels and is considerably less polluting (depends on
what you do with the
candy wrapper ;-), but economically this isn't a big
gain. OK, if you could
really do without a car then it would be--no
insurance, taxes, capital
costs, etc.--but a 55 year old body, a northern
climate, and streets on
which it is even unsafe to drive makes this an
'academic' comparison.
A note from my energy class this year: It is quite
clear that car-pooling
is a far more effective way to cut down on fuel
usage than mass-transit and
VERY much cheaper to accomplish. It is also not
that difficult to devise
ways to 'force' car pooling. I was actually
surprised at the figures but
after thinking about it, it does make sense.
Rick
**************************************************
Richard W. Tarara
Associate Professor of Physics
Department of Chemistry & Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
219-284-4664
rtarara@saintmarys.edu
Free Physics Instructional Software
www.saintmarys.edu/~rtarara
Win9.x, WinNT/2000, Win3.x, Dos, Mac, and PowerMac
New: World Energy Simulator, Animated Chalkboard
package
Windows and Mac CD-ROMs now available.
****************************************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "Art Hobson" <ahobson@COMP.UARK.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2000 12:11 PM
Subject: gasoline prices
In response to questions about theenergy-efficiency tables I listed
yesterday, I want to explain the meaning of thefigures listed for
biological transportation methods such asbicycling: The "fuel" is food,
and the amount of fuel is the number of foodcalories consumed. It
includes the basal metabolism rate. For example,the energy efficiency of
bicycling is quoted as 18 passenger-km/MJ. Thismeans that, to maintain a
constant supply of stored biological energy, whilebicycling 18 km and
simultaneously doing all the other things a humanbody does (heart, lungs,
etc.), you must consume 1 MJ (240 kcal, or 240dietician's Calories) in
the
form of food (i.e. chemical energy that is thenmetabolised). - Art
Hobson
72701
Art Hobson, Physics, U Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
See info about my liberal-arts physics textbook at