Traveling Sustainably: Plains, Trains, Automobiles, Scooters & Bikes [Part 1]

This summer, I'm interested in taking a trip.  But what would be the best way to travel if I want to minimize my environmental impact? (Ignoring money and time.)

Departure: Atlanta, GA
Destination: San Francisco, CA
Distance: 2463 (round up to 2500 for travel to Atlanta from Gainesville, GA)

MPG Estimates

It seems funny to think of human-powered vehicles as having a miles per gallon value, but simple calculation can convert your calorie intake into just that.  Brad Templeton estimates that because US agriculture uses about 400 gasoline-gallon equivalents per American annually; this is about 10 calories for every calorie of food, and 4 times as much for heavy beef eaters. Therefore, he calculates that a bicyclist with an average diet is getting the equivalent of 85 miles per gallon of fossil fuel. See his calculations.  However, I would be adding weight to my bicycle and biking long distances daily, which may increase my calorie consumption. As a quick estimate, if I used 50 % more calories, I might get 63 miles per gallon. 

After seeing the movie Kalifornia, I don't plan on looking for strangers to share the ride, but if I can get a friend to join me in my car, we could get 40 passenger MPG (at 20 vehicle MPG- I know, pretty bad!).  Renting a Prius might net me around 100 passenger MPG with 2 of us.  Compare this to the following chart:

Source:  http://www.templetons.com/brad/transit-myth.html#mpg

Looks like biking would be in the green on the chart, but maybe I should be shopping for an electric scooter.

Fossil fuel use in agriculture/how biking produces emissions:

• “Eating Fossil Fuels” by Dale Allen Pfeiffer
• "Fossil Fuel and Energy Use" at Sustainable Table
• "The Inefficiency of Local Food" at Freakonomics

Tomorrow: Part 2, CO2 emissions