Question:
What can you do to absolutely minimize your fuel use?

Answer:
Not drive a car.
(You peaked at the picture header, didn’t you!?)

As much time and effort as we all put into making our cars and trucks more efficient, its easy to forget that even at their absolute best, a motor vehicle is still a pretty inefficient way to get from point A to point B.
Even with a 100% efficient engine, which would of course violate the laws of thermodynamics, the machine is still using more energy to move itself around than to move you.   In most modern gas powered cars, only about 1% of the energy in the fuel is actually being used to transport you from place to place.  With extreme hypermiling, we might raise that to 2%, or even 5%, but the best-case-scenario is pretty awful.

There is only one machine which is actually more energy efficient than the mode of transportation God gave us and that is the bicycle.
By combining human legs with the power of the wheel and the leverage of gears, it is possible to easily travel over 6 times further in a given time span (or the same distance 6 times faster) than you could with just a pair of shoes.
In contrast to the 6x multiplier effect a bicycle has over walking, driving a car only nets about a 4x multiplier in speed/distance compared to a bike.

Given that this is ecomodder, chances are that many readers probably fall into one of two categories:

1) People who already bicycle to work everyday, and as much as possible for errands
(perhaps for all trips below 5 miles?)

2) People who want to bike to work everyday, but have a good reason why they can’t (but still ride for short trips whenever possible!)

The reasons for not doing it are usually distance, weather, traffic, and/or needing to carry a large amount of people or stuff.  (UPDATE – Or, “I don’t own a bike” – in which case please read this article)
And I get that.  I own 2 motor vehicles myself.  There would be no reason to be on ecomodder if we had no motor vehicle to mod.

But May is National Bike Month, and for just one day this month, one day out of the entire year, I challenge everyone from the second category to try cycling to work, no matter how good your excuse is the other 364 days a year.

If that means you have to bring a change of clothes and wash off with a cloth in the bathroom because there are no showers, transport stuff to the workplace (laptop, work tools, whatever) the day before, get up an hour and a half earlier, invest in a super bright headlight and taillight to stay safe, or even if it means buying studded tires so you can ride through the snow, do it.

If it is still an insurmountable challenge, you could try taking public transit part of the way and biking the rest, or if there is no transit, you could even drive halfway with your bike in the trunk, park, and bike the rest of the way.  You would still be cutting your fuel use in half for that commute, reducing your impact on air quality, saving money, and getting some exercise.  (You should spend at least 30 minutes exercising everyday anyway, so when you look at it that way, you could actually be saving time.)

One way or another, no matter how inconvenient it is, just this one day, give it a try.

And even though it is called “Bike to WORK Day”, it doesn’t really have to be to work.  You can bike to school, the supermarket for groceries, or where ever you have to go that day.  If you don’t need to go anywhere that day, it can be another day the same week.  Or at least in the month of May.
At some point in the month of May, use a bicycle as a means of transportation to somewhere you needed to go anyway.

Bike To Work Day, originally created by The League of American Bicyclists, is a tradition going back 56 years.
In the majority of the country it falls on Friday, May 18th, so you have a little time to get ready.  (EDIT: this was posted a week later than intended, for administrative reasons.  So you don’t have much time after all.  And everything in the next paragraph is now past tense)

In a few areas it is celebrated on a different date; in the San Fransisco Bay Area (including Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, and the rest of the 9 county metropolitan area) it is coming up fast: Thursday, May 10th!

As usual we, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, will be providing energizer stations all morning with free goodie bags for everyone on a bicycle, as well as a free pancake breakfast at Oakland City Hall, where we will also be providing free valet bike parking all day for anyone who works in the area or wants to catch the train from the 12th St Station.  After work there will be a bicycle block party from 5:00pm to 8:30pm at Ninth and Washington Streets in Oakland.
(Sure, you may have to get up 2 hours earlier to bike to work, but I’ll need to get up by 4am to get to Oakland city hall by 5:30am, and then I’m working until at least 8:30pm.  So no complaining.  Its only one day a year…)

For a list of whats going on in your own neck of the woods, contact your local Bicycle Coalition, or check in at any local bike shop.  Or just Google “bike to work day” plus your own city or county name.  You can also find many events on the League’s website. In the even that there are none, you can create one for your local area yourself, and then post info about it on their website.

It will take some time until we get there, but hopefully someday our future will look just like this:

and ecomodding will become an even more strange and esoteric hobby than it is today.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlL1u0YrlGE

No one is going to question that gas prices are high or that the economy is in rough shape, but evidently some people think that doesn’t mean we have to change at all. Just watch this political attack ad and see. Many Americans are already reducing their miles driven and changing the way they commute because of the current economy, but is that a bad thing?

I think not. In fact, it may very well be a good thing. I’m not a fan of the idea of global recession, but I can tell you from experience that after living in Japan where my commute consisted of walking, taking the train, and then biking, I not only saved money over driving, but was much more in shape, even though the effort was by no means strenuous.

So you tell me, do you think walking places is “wacky?” I certainly don’t.

PS: I’m not endorsing any candidates or parties here, I don’t even know where this ad is from besides PA, which I found out from this post at Treehugger, so please no “Barack Obama is my hero” or “John McCain is a maverick” comments!

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Image: yoshimai

It may seem counterintuitive, but according to a recent report more cyclists on the road mean fewer accidents involving cyclists and motor vehicles. I was convinced of this after spending some time living and cycling in Japan, but it’s always nice to have some real research to back up one’s personal hearsay.

This happens because as more cyclists hit the road, drivers are more aware of their presence. Not only are drivers looking out for cyclists, but as interaction between cars and bikes increase, drivers learn how to drive safely and respectfully around cyclists.

According to the University of New South Wales, who did the research:

“It’s a virtuous cycle,” says Dr Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from UNSW who address the seminar on September 5. “The likelihood that an individual cyclist will be struck by a motorist falls with increasing rate of bicycling in a community. And the safer cycling is perceived to be, the more people are prepared to cycle.”

Also, even more encouragingly, it doesn’t seem that cycling infrastructure is responsible for the change:

Experts say the effect is independent of improvements in cycling-friendly laws such as lower speed limits and better infrastructure, such as bike paths. Research has revealed the safety-in-numbers impact for cyclists in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, 14 European countries and 68 Californian cities.

So, if you’ve ever thought about getting out on a bicycle, consider this: you will be safest in communities with the most cyclists; your contribution will not only keep a car off the road, but will help make everyone safer.

Happy riding!

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While reading Hank’s post on EcoGeek about his first train ride, I was reminded of many of my own impressions when I started riding the train daily in Japan. I’m not really up on my US train system, but from what I hear it’s nothing compared to Japan’s (obviously). Here’s my list of impressions from daily commuting on the Japanese train.

1. No security and no lines. One time I got on a late train and was planning on catching the 11:35 shinkansen to Kyoto, but when I got to Tokyo Station I noticed there was a Kyoto-bound shinkansen leaving in 3 minutes. I sprinted to the platform and jumped in before the doors closed and off the train went.
2. Everything is on time. In Japan, trains run on time. If you’re late the train leaves you or closes you in the doors. It doesn’t matter where you are or what time of day it is, but the train will leave when it is supposed to and get to where it’s going when it’s supposed to. One time there was a power outage in the city I was travelling through on the shinkansen and we had to sit on the tracks for 30 minutes…but we still got to our destination on time!
3. You can do whatever you want. You can drink, sleep, play games, read, do work, or even hang out in the smoking car and light up.
4. The train can be wonderfully social. On the train you don’t have to worry about the relationship between paying attention and staying alive. Chatting, gaming, sleeping, and texting are all A-OK. Some trains even have seats that flip around so you can face your companions booth style.
5. Peace. Japanese trains are great because you don’t need to do anything besides what you want. No one talks on their cell phone and no one is obnoxiously loud or sexually inappropriate.
6. You can stretch out. On the plane or in your car you can’t really get up and move around too much, but on the train you have plenty of legroom, and don’t ever need to be in your seat.
7. Speed at rush hour. Even when it’s rush hour, the train is never late. In fact, it will be quicker during rush hour because more trains run. You might be a little crammed in if you’re commuting out of the city, but hey, learn to love your neighbor.
8. You don’t need to buy tickets. You can use your cell phone, JR Suica pass, or commute ticket to ensure that you never need to buy another ticket.

Well, that concludes my impressions of trains in Japan (and I think much of this is the same in Europe). Here’s hoping that one day we’ll have the same in the US.

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Sometimes life is a bummer. I know I intend to car-free, but not like this and not this soon! I’ll keep you posted as developments… well… develop.

It’s one thing to go living without a car if you live in a moderate climate, but what do you do when temperatures reach -46*C with the wind-chill?

Gas is over $4 a gallon. I’ve already downsized to a Geo Metro. I spend over $500 a month for my car. It’s time to do something about it!