energy

Did you know that we should take into account the embodied energy when we compare the consequences of our energy use and transportation? WattzOn provides tools for us to track our energy consumption and compare it to a recommended 2000 Watt lifestyle (as a sustainable lifestyle). Eightlines on Twitter alerts us to the embodied energy of bicycles and e-bikes, which are both much lower than a typical energy efficient car such as the Toyota Prius. (The embodied energy is the energy it takes to create the object, which is then divided over the lifetime of the object.)

It comes as no surprise that a steel frame bicycle has a very low embodied energy at about 7.9 Watts (these numbers are necessarily ball-park). The bike only makes up a tiny fraction of the "2000 Watt lifestyle".