Green motorcycles

Motorbikes provide many of the individual freedoms associated with cars, but with lower environmental costs:

• Less pressure on transport infrastructure than cars, as each vehicle needs less road space and less parking space, and is easily moved out of the way if it breaks down.
• Reducing commuter congestion – 85% of commuter vehicles carry only one person.
• Embodied costs are lower – building a low-capacity motorbike takes around one-seventh of the resources needed to build a car.
• Bikes also tend to last longer than cars, because they don’t have all that rust-prone bodywork.
• More efficient round town as they are less slowed down by congestion.
• Motorcycle emissions are generally lower than car emissions.
• Generally speaking, bikes use less fuel than cars – 55-81% less according to one 1992 study.
• Fuel consumption is of course greater for power-hungry superbikes (similar to the fuel consumption of small cars), and riding style can alter the figures enormously.
• Bikes have a reputation for being dangerous. Statistics in fact suggest that motorbikes are less dangerous for other people than cars, and not as dangerous for the bikers themselves as is often thought.
• Bikes can be a lot of fun, as well. This either means that they perform two functions at once – pleasure and transport – or that they lead to a whole lot of unnecessary burning of fossil fuels. It all depends on the biker!
• Electric Motorcycles are starting to be real alternative to petrol bikes. Have a look at this recent road test of Zero DS by Sust-it