Cycling and greenhouse gases

[magnatom]

Right.

YOU - DO NOT "PRODUCE" C02.

The carbon dioxide is already present in the make up of the atmosphere that you breathe, it makes up the vast amount of what you breathe in.

Respiration is the act of your body sucking in the air and stripping out the little oxygen that it needs, all that is returned into the atmosphere is what went into your lungs in in the first place minus some of the oxygen.

GCSE Science anyone?

Or is this the Daily Mail chatroom?

Also - Global warming pisses about with the gulf stream that heats our shores, so yes we can freeze in winter when the world gets warmer.

Um, actually you do produce CO2.

 

[Coco]

Yes, it is called the carbon cycle,  

You don't want to get one of them. They break after 2 days in the rain 





Come to think of it, carbon bikes are trapping some carbon in epoxy so must be greener than alloy bikes 

 

[Zoiders]

Um, actually you do produce CO2.

Less than 3% of what you breathe out.

And part of the carbon cycle.

So in the long run you don't.

 

[Davidc]

CO2 from biological sources (you) generally doesn't qualify - but there is some greenhouse CO2 'embedded' in the food you eat.

The bike has a footprint from manufacture and from consumables (tyres, lubricants and other spares) but it's small.

Plus its flippin freezing everywhere I'm loosing faith in the global warming thing

Well covered in the past - but short term weather and long term climate change are very different.

Climate change caused by global warming will produce more extreme weather so if this winter is a result of AGW then it's just what's expected, just wait for the matching summer!

 

[crazy580]

Tree's produce CO2 too. The amount a person emits is negligible.

 

[Dayvo]

And so does sex. I'd chill out and not worry too much about it.

'Dodger's best ever post!

I wouldn't worry about it, at all! And the sex bit is up to you!

 

[HJ]

Tree's produce CO2 too. The amount a person emits is negligible.

Trees (while they are alive) are a sink for CO[sub]2[/sub] as the take in more that they release, it is just part of the natural carbon cycle.

 

[StuartG]

The answer is not simple.

In theory the CO2 expired comes from the organic matter consumed and, as others have said, it is just part of the carbon cycle and does not contribute to the increase in greenhouse gases (except when you fart).

However if your partner motored down to Tescos to get you some nice Kenyan grown veggies and New Zealand lamb and cooked them to hell - things start to go awry. Lots of fossil fuels in transport, fertilizer production and heating. So that meal on the table has a real nasty CO2 footprint.

And cycling does increase your appetite. So grow your own veggies in compost and bbq a local fox on tree cuttings and things will be just fine.

Or cut out breathing for an hour or so. That will fix it for good

 

[mgarl10024]

Cycling increases respiration and consequently results in the higher production of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, etc).
Has anyone ever investigated what effect this has on the environment?

Good question. I wondered this and often joked that being so unfit when I started that I must emit more greenhouse gases that an average car!
In reality, I don't think it'll matter all that much.

A few thoughts I've had:
- if you become fitter, you may breathe and respire less overall. I've often wondered if a heart has a certain number of beats whether wasting them on cycling is such a good idea - however if it brings my resting heart rate down through improved fitness then overall it may be less? Same argument applies to greenhouse gases.
- cycling does increase appetite, so that means more methane. Methane is much worse - I forget the actual figure, but in terms of "carbon equivalent" it is much worse per tonne.

Plus its flippin freezing everywhere I'm loosing faith in the global warming thing

As someone else pointed out, this doesn't work for the UK (although I suspect that your comment is tongue-in-cheek. The reason we're not experiencing the same climate as Canada in the UK although we're on the same longitudinal lines is because of something called the Oceanic Conveyer which is a series of water currents that brings heated water from Africa/South America to the UK. This relies on salty sea water. If too much fresh water from the poles goes into the sea and dilutes it, the Oceanic Conveyer will stop, and the UK would end up with a climate similar to parts of Canada.

However if your partner motored down to Tescos to get you some nice Kenyan grown veggies and New Zealand lamb and cooked them to hell - things start to go awry. Lots of fossil fuels in transport, fertilizer production and heating. So that meal on the table has a real nasty CO2 footprint.

I suspect that the carbon footprint of the food you put into your body will make much more difference that the CO2/Methane that you emit, as pointed out in this comment.
Have a look at http://www.guardian....otprint-cycling - if you only ate "Air Freighted Asparagus, you'd have the same footprint when cycling as a medium sized car if I remember correctly!

MG