[sustran] Re: E-bikes vs bikes

[Sudhir]

Dear AD,

you can possibly look into the research from Christopher Cherry from
University of California-Berkeley.

http://www.its.berkeley.edu/publications/UCB/2007/VWP/UCB-ITS-VWP-2007-2.pdf


regards
Sudhir

On 12/08/2008, AD <banmt at yahoo.com> wrote:

> As petrol price has increased recently from 14.500 VND to 19.000 VND
> (around 31%) (1USD~17.000VND), more and more Vietnamese people are buying
> e-bikes as an alternative for their motorbikes. However, concerning the
> environmental effects of electricity generation (burning oil/petrol/coal for
> thermal power or building dams for hydropower) and of manufacturing and
> disposing of batteries used in e-bikes, i wonder if it is a good trend. Any
> advise or comment will be highly appreciated.
>
> Best regards,
>
> AD.
>
>
> --- On Sat, 11/25/06, cherry at berkeley.edu <cherry at berkeley.edu> wrote:
> From: cherry at berkeley.edu <cherry at berkeley.edu>
> Subject: [sustran]  Re: Guangzhou bans electric bicycles
> To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
> Date: Saturday, November 25, 2006, 6:10 AM
>
> Hopefully this doesn't post twice, I had a computer glitch. Sorry in
> advance if it did.
>
> Chinese policy makers in have cited safety, lead pollution, contribution
> to congestion and "image" as reasons for banning ebikes in Guangzhou and
> trying in Beijing. Electric bikes are very good on many levels. They
> provide mobility that is unmatched by almost any other mode and no
> tailpipe emissions. They do use electricity from predominately coal power
> plants, but even so, the emission rates per km are lower than most other
> modes. The human health impacts of power plant emissions in rural areas
> are likely lower than tailpipe emissions in dense cities. The biggest
> problem with ebikes is lead from battery use. Ebike batteries are about
> the same size as car batteries and they go through them rather fast. A lot
> of lead is lost during the manufacture and recycling processes, so even
> 100% recycling wouldn't fix this problem. This isn't a problem with
> ebikes, it's a problem with the lead industry and the sooner ebikes
> transition into Li-ion or NiMH batteries the better. The ebike industry
> might need some regulatory "help" making this transition.
>
> Ebikes aren't necessarily unsafe, they are simply vulnerable, like
> bicyclists. Based on some data I've seen, they are no more unsafe that
> bicycles and they are much safer than cars. The safety argument doesn't
> hold a lot of water in my opinion.
>
> The problem with most of the policy that is being developed is that policy
> makers are not considering alternative modes once ebikes are regulated.
> Ebikes are unsafe, dirty, congestion causing…compared to what mode.
> Compare them to cars and ebikes win on most metrics. Compare them to
> bicycles and they don't. Most ebikers would otherwise use bus or bicycle,
> so the environmental/energy impact difference is small. The big benefit of
> ebikes that is not considered is the high levels of mobility and
> accessibility that they provide to lower income residents. These impacts
> are not being considered.
>
> The point is that this is not a completely green or sustainable
> transportation mode, but with some minor improvements and compared to the
> future alternative modes as incomes rise- it performs really well.
>
> This is the subject of my dissertation research in which addresses the
> above issues. Email me or check out my website if you would like to see
> some working papers or preliminary results.
>
> Christopher Cherry
> PhD Candidate
> Institute of Transportation Studies
> University of California, Berkeley
> cherry at berkeley.edu
> www.ce.berkeley.edu/~cherry
> www.its.berkeley.edu/volvocenter
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> --------------------------------------------------------
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>
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> join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The
> yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the
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> can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement.
>
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> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
> (the 'Global South').
>



-- 
Sudhir Gota
Transport Specialist
CAI-Asia Center
Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower,
ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
Tel: +63-2-395-2843
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Skype : sudhirgota