“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle” - Often attributed to Plato but likely from Ian McLaren (pseudonym of Reverend John Watson)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

A quick follow-up

My previous post dealt with the total energy required in using various means to go to the store for groceries. My conclusion was counter-intuitive, in that it appears that bicycling uses more energy than an electric scooter. Now clearly if I'm fulfilling another purpose, e.g., maintaining a level of physical activity for fitness, the energy issue may not be the deciding factor in my choice. And bicycles are cheaper than viable electric scooters.

But, speaking of price, let's focus on the cost analysis from an energy point of view. The energy used in my means of transportation should be reflected in the price I pay to use it so I'll see what each method costs. From the previous post, if I walk I'll have to buy 491 kilocalories of food to make the trip. Clearly, all kilocalories are not created equal, but I estimate that if I eat 2500 kilocalories/day and am doing so in a "not too unhealthy" way, I might spend about $7.00, or$0.0028/kilocalorie. Thus, my trip costs .0028*491=$1.37. An identical calculation for the bicycle, using the 162 kilocalories from my earlier post, results in a cost of$0.45.

For the electric scooter, I'll use 751,000 joules or 0.208 kilowatt hours (the 638,000 joules used by the trip divided by the 85% charger efficiency, i.e., this is what I pay for). This will cost me a little less than $0.03. Pretty darn cheap! For the smart fortwo, I'll use$0.59 worth of gasoline (6 miles at 33 m.p.g. and premium fuel at $3.239/gallon) and for the Land Rover LR3 HSE, it will be$1.10.

So the cost results, surprisingly, do change the order. It's cheaper, in end user energy purchase price, to drive than to walk. This holds true even in my three ton Land Rover. Shocking indeed, but I don't see a huge error. Obviously, electricity and gasoline are commodities and food isn't so I can, to a certain extent, choose what to pay for a kilocalorie. One thing that quickly jumps out is that food is expensive! I bet no one reading was aware of this obscure fact.

Perhaps if I choose food for minimum kilocalories/dollar, I could cut the price by something like 70%. Doing that makes the trip $0.13 on the bicycle and$0.39 to walk. I think this is at least a reasonable view, the cost per kilocalorie above the minimum is for taste, convenience, "earth friendliness," etc. and not for energy. This adjustment changes the order back to a match for the total energy conversion analysis.

To recap (using minimal food cost):

Electric Scooter: $0.03 Bicycle:$0.13

Walking: $0.39 smart fortwo:$0.59

Land Rover LR3 HSE: $1.10 To recap (using food I typically buy): Electric Scooter:$0.03

Bicycle: $0.45 smart fortwo:$0.59

Land Rover LR3 HSE: $1.10 Walking:$1.37