Monday, August 5, 2019

Report: Using E-scooters Not So Green, Especially If You'd Be Walking Instead

The rise in on-demand, e-scooter companies--such as those from Bird, Wheels, Lime, and many others--has been heralded by companies as being good for the planet and cleaner than other options. However, a newly published study by researchers finds that greenhouse gas emissions associated with e-scooter use is actually higher in 65 percent of simulated cases, than the suites of modes of transportation those scooters are displacing--namely, things like walking, bicycling, and skateboarding to your destination. Although e-scooter companies have sold their services as a way to help the environment, it appears that the environmental burden of materials and manufacturing of e-scooters, and in particular, how those e-scooters are transported to overnight charging stations makes a huge difference in emissions associated with those devices; in particular, the actual lifetime of an e-scooter also has a huge impact on the environmental cost of the devices. That said, according to those researchers, if an e-scooter is being used to replace a personal automobile--as opposed to transportation modes like walking or riding a bicycle--then there is a net reduction in environmental impact of using those devices. Image: Bird's scooters in Paris