Faced with climate change, the transition to electric cars appears to be an obvious solution. If this ambition can be understood under certain conditions, it is called into question by a new study carried out by researchers from Oxford.
According to them, it will indeed take too long for a sufficient number of green vehicles to replace thermal models. However, it is over the next five years that we must act to avoid the worst in terms of climate. However, scientists are proposing a very effective solution for traveling in urban areas: bicycles.
An enlightening study
Christian Brand, researcher at the University of Oxford, returned in an article published on the site The Conversation on a study he carried out with his colleagues. The authors observed 4,000 people living in large European cities: London, Antwerp, Barcelona, Vienna, Örebro, Rome and Zurich.
For two years, they filled out no less than 10,000 entries in a travel diary which scrutinized all their daily movements. They then calculated the carbon footprint of each of them.
The scientists noted that participants who traveled daily by bike emitted 84% less carbon than those who did not. On average, a person who switches from car to bike just once a week saves 3.2kg of CO₂. Which is equivalent to the emissions produced by a car over 10km.
They then compared the life cycle of each mode of transport, integrating the carbon generated by the manufacturing of these means of transport, and by their operation. It turns out that cycling emissions are 30 times lower than those of a car that uses fossil fuels, and ten times lower than those of an electric car.
And the researcher concludes: “So the race is on. Active travel (by bike or on foot, editor’s note) can help fight the climate emergency sooner than electric vehicles, while providing affordable, reliable, clean, healthy transport and reducing traffic jams..
Progress in France
If we want to see the glass half full, we can note that cycling has been increasing in France for several years. Thus, according to a study published in 2023, the modal share of the latter is 11% in Paris compared to 4% for the car.
The same movements are observed in several large cities. However, we must put these figures into perspective by recalling a survey published in 2023 by Alphabet and the IFOP institute on the means of travel of the French on their home-work journey. He noted that 75% of workers favor this mode of transport, far ahead of gentle modes of travel: walking, cycling, or even scooters.
