The world would save nearly 700 million tonnes of carbon pollution each year if every person adopted the Dutch way of life and went cycling on a daily basis, new research showed Thursday. The research was published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.
The transport sector currently accounts for a quarter of all fuel-related greenhouse gas emissions
Most of the fuel-related greenhouse gas emissions, which warm the planet, are currently majorly attributed to the transportation sector. Half of those emissions are from passenger cars, and worldwide transport demand is predicted to triple by mid-century. Reportedly, Governments and businesses have shifted to electric vehicles to decarbonize transportation, with nearly 6.75 million units sold by the year 2021.
Vehicle sales are tracked and published each year. However, it has been not easy to calculate the production and ownership of a much older, low-carbon technology: the bicycle.
World’s first dataset on cycle ownership
An international team of researchers has now compiled the first global dataset of bicycle ownership and use by countries dating back to the early 1960s. They used statistical modeling to fill in any information gaps.
They found that between 1962-2015 global production of bikes outstripped that of cars, with China accounting for nearly two-thirds of the more than 123 million bikes manufactured in 2015. Writing in the journal, the team showed that bicycle ownership was generally higher in upper-income and upper-middle-income countries.
However, so was the percentage of journeys undertaken by car. Moreover, bicycles were used as a mode of transportation in only 5 percent of the 60 countries studied. Some countries, simply lack bicycle stocks, while others with high bike ownership, such as the United States, tend to view cycling as more of a leisure activity than a mode of transport.
What do they mean by ‘going Dutch?’
The team calculated that if everyone emulated the Danish commute of cycling an average of 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) each day, the world could save some 686 million tonnes of CO2 a year. That is actually equivalent to Britain’s annual emissions. Moreover, it will bring with it associated health benefits due to more exercise and improved air quality.
“A worldwide pro-bicycle policy and infrastructure development enabled modal shift like the Netherlands and Denmark can lead to significant untapped climate and health benefits,” the authors wrote.