"whitfit" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> There is a lot of info on the net about using an electric motor for such purposes. I know, poor
> power/weight ratio and all, but two stroke engines are really big polluters. I ride my bike to
> avoid such pollution, not to exacerbate the problem.
OK, but where does the electricity come from? Coal and fuel oil ( because of the irrational fear of
nuclear here). The contribution of solar/hydro is pretty small. And besides being generated from
coal and oil, your electricity suffers conversion/transmission/storage losses too .
So enjoy if you are so inclined but please don't bring "less pollution" as an argument for
electrics. Similar to the current hydrogen hype ( the "clean" hydrogen gets separated by burning
coal and oil ) and the shamelsss ethanol hoax ( a net loss after the energy to produce/deliver
the stuff) .
And just for perspective, all the assisted-power bicycles in America taken together add up to
virtually nothing in a discussion of pollution. There just aren't big numbers there.
--
Andrew Muzi
http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971