Bikes get 1,400 mpg! Should they cost more to register than a car in Oregon?

Bicycles and Energy Efficiency: Issues We Can’t Afford to Ignore

Ken Thiessen
Portland, Oregon

When I was a boy, my father told me that a gasoline engine used to propel a car is only about 32% efficient, meaning that 68% of the energy in gasoline is lost to heat and friction. At about the same time, I read that bicycles are the most efficient transportation invention yet devised. As a boy, this knowledge gave me pleasure as I explored my hometown on my 3-speed Schwinn Sting Ray, burning peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Recently I visited Sellwood Cyclery, near Portland, Oregon and picked up the new catalog from Kona Bicycles. In the catalog, an article by Mitchell Scott added to my understanding of bicycle efficiency. Scott writes”…a bicycle requires 350 calories per 10 miles, compared to a car needing 18,000 calories to go the same distance.” At a time in America when sustainability is the buzzword of the moment, energy consumption is at least being considered by many us in our daily activities and chores. The good news in Scott’s article is that fully 1% of us (up from 0.4% in 2000) are now using bicycles for our urban travel needs. At this rate it may still take a while to end our dependence on foreign oil and get obesity levels in check.

Dr. Ted Mitchell of McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, reported that people of average fitness can achieve 12 mph on a bicycle with a power output of about 75 watts, a level of exertion that can be kept up for hours. “Leg muscles are about 20% efficient, so a 2.5 mile ride consumes 80 kilocalories (80 calories to us Americans), the equivalent of one small apple. This translates to a fuel efficiency of 1,400 mpg of gasoline.”

With public officials and marketers now running with sustainable and green ideas, products, and questionable Cap and Trade policies, the lowly bicycle hanging from ceiling hooks in most American garages usually gets overlooked. I wonder if my commuter bike is worthy of an “Energy Star” rating? Meanwhile a new bill introduced to the Oregon Legislature (HB 3008) seeks to impose a registration fee for bicycles of $54/two years. This registration fee and accompanying database information would supposedly be useful to law enforcement agencies not only to pursue traffic law violators but to fund bicycle lanes and improvements. Does the absence of this bill prevent law enforcement officers from ticketing law-scoffing cyclists now? The proposed registration fees place Oregon's bicycles in the same category as cars and pickup trucks——which exceeds the motorcycle fee of $30/two years. Locals are wondering if pedestrians too, should pay their fair share for use of ubiquitous pedestrian-specific improvements. In light of the ideas presented above, this House Bill seems like another case of taking two steps forward and one step back.