Sorry about the whole being late thing... You know, holidays! What are you going to do about 'em? Anyway, here's the long awaited Bikes vs. Trains!
Bikes
Before I get started, I just have to say that learning how to ride about a bike is just about mandatory for children in this country. It's almost like a rite of passage or a coming of age event in people's lives.
Green Pride (14/20)
I know for a fact that you know, or at least know of, someone in your life that is a total jerk about riding their bike. These are the people with the spandex pants and the people that always talk about how Lance Armstrong is their personal hero. These people rub it in your faces that their carbon footprint is smaller than the parking space that they need to park their bike at work every day. Never mind that they have an hour and a half commute each way. That's not the point. The point is that they're better than you.
Green Guilt (3/20)
The hard thing about biking is that it doesn't work in the winter. Everyone in the northern part of the country (world, really), wakes up on January 1st and says "I should ride my bike more to reduce my carbon footprint and get into shape." Haha, then they rationalize it that it's snowing out and they'll wait until April to start that New Year's Resolution. But by April, most people have forgotten that they made that promise to themselves and feel really no guilt about it.
Reader Comments (0/10)
I couldn't decide either. Maybe next time!
Trains
Trains pulled off an upset last round, can they do it again?
Green Pride (10/20)
Sorry, Trains, I don't have any really great anecdotes or witty remarks about how people love riding trains and how people herald them as the saviors of the environment. Yes, there is a lot of push for high speed rail to be installed in this country, but I don't see that as an environmental issue first and foremost. It's mostly an economic issue that people want to see cities connected by things other than roads and airports.
Green Guilt (0/20)
When was the last time that you rode a train? One of two things just happened. You either didn't have to think much about it because you do it every day and it's a necessity and not an environmental choice. The other is that you had to think for quite a while and couldn't really remember the last time. That's because it doesn't bother you that you're not riding trains. If you're concerned about your environmental footprint, you're going to do other things (like ride bikes) and not choose to ride the train more.
Reader Comments (0/10)
They're worth double now, so make sure you comment!
Time to tally the scores!
Bikes: 17
Trains: 10
Wow, lowest scores we've ever had here. Bikes are lucky that Trains were such an uninspiring competitor.
Next up: (2) Electric Vehicles vs. (3) Hybrid Vehicles. That should be interesting!
Showing posts with label Train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Train. Show all posts
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Tournament Round 1, Match 6 - (4) Biofuels vs. (5) Trains
Hey all, sorry about the super late post. I had some... er... super important things to take care of this weekend. You wouldn't understand. No more wasting time! Let's see how (4) Biofuels and (5) Trains stack up!
Biofuels
Biofuels, wow such a huge topic that one paragraph won't be enough. But I'll try. Biofuels are anythings that fuel vehicles that are made from plant or animal matter. Theoretically, they are renewable, but that assumes that you plant more of the crop. Common examples are gasoline made from algae and ethanol made from corn.
Impact on the Environment (7/15):
I really want to give this one higher marks. Because anything that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and potentially burn cleaner would be a great idea. But here's the catch. As we chop down all that abundant corn growing in our backyards, that's that much less corn for us to feed to livestock and eat ourselves. That drives up prices and forces us to use more land for farms (which I've mentioned in the Wildlife Conservation is a bad thing). On top of that, ethanol still releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases when it's burned.
Practicality (9/10):
Biofuels are very practical. We won't need to change much about our cars. We don't need to change much about our gas pipelines. We're already growing corn and other crops like switchgrass. In fact, up to 10% of gas you get now contains corn-based ethanol.
Sustainability (5/10):
Even if we switched half of the gasoline we use to corn-based ethanol, we won't have enough corn in this country for that, let alone feeding livestock. So this won't solve our oil crisis. The good news is that scientists are working on non-corn based alternatives to making ethanol. Things like sugar cane (widely used now in Brazil) and algae (we're never going to run out of ocean (unless the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has its way)).
Awesomeness (4/10):
I mean, really, you don't even see the gas you put in your car now, so you wouldn't notice if it suddenly looked like corn-based fuel. Even if it was glowing green because it was made from algae, you still wouldn't notice. Go on with your lives, people, nothing to see here.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Trains
Even three year old kids know what Trains are. I don't think that I need to go over this one.
Impact on the Environment (12/15):
Getting more Trains on the road instead of trucks will save a lot of gas because Trains don't stop for red lights and traffic and all that junk. And with high speed Trains becoming more popular, people can travel from one city to another just as quick as air travel but without the gas guzzling airplanes.
Practicality (4/10):
Trains. Hm... The problem is that you can't get rid of trucks altogether. I mean, could you imagine a FedEx Train showing up outside your house to deliver packages? Trains are so limited in where they can go and they take a whole lot of effort to load and unload and everything like that. The good news is that Trains have been around so long that the technology is very mature and people have figured out pretty well how to make Trains.
Sustainability (5/10):
Trains should last for a very very long time. If the rails are kept up pretty well and the Trains are maintained, the rail system should last for quite a long time. A lot of the rail lines that exist in this country have been around since before the Civil War, so 150 years means that Trains weren't just some fad. But there has to be a reason a lot of the rail lines have been shut down in the past 20 years, especially in the Midwest. The killer - Interstate system. Stupid Interstate System...
Awesomeness (8/10):
Trains are pretty darn awesome. I mean, what boy in this country didn't have some kind of Train that they played with when they were kids? Unless of course they run through your backyard, everyone loves trains.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Alright, let's tally those scores!
Biofuels: 25
Trains: 29
Way to go, Trains! Do you think that you can stand up to (1) Bikes? Well, yes, literally, I think a Train could take out a whole fleet of Bikes, but the ability to crush one another isn't a category in this Tournament. This round anyway....
Biofuels
Biofuels, wow such a huge topic that one paragraph won't be enough. But I'll try. Biofuels are anythings that fuel vehicles that are made from plant or animal matter. Theoretically, they are renewable, but that assumes that you plant more of the crop. Common examples are gasoline made from algae and ethanol made from corn.
Impact on the Environment (7/15):
I really want to give this one higher marks. Because anything that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and potentially burn cleaner would be a great idea. But here's the catch. As we chop down all that abundant corn growing in our backyards, that's that much less corn for us to feed to livestock and eat ourselves. That drives up prices and forces us to use more land for farms (which I've mentioned in the Wildlife Conservation is a bad thing). On top of that, ethanol still releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases when it's burned.
Practicality (9/10):
Biofuels are very practical. We won't need to change much about our cars. We don't need to change much about our gas pipelines. We're already growing corn and other crops like switchgrass. In fact, up to 10% of gas you get now contains corn-based ethanol.
Sustainability (5/10):
Even if we switched half of the gasoline we use to corn-based ethanol, we won't have enough corn in this country for that, let alone feeding livestock. So this won't solve our oil crisis. The good news is that scientists are working on non-corn based alternatives to making ethanol. Things like sugar cane (widely used now in Brazil) and algae (we're never going to run out of ocean (unless the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has its way)).
Awesomeness (4/10):
I mean, really, you don't even see the gas you put in your car now, so you wouldn't notice if it suddenly looked like corn-based fuel. Even if it was glowing green because it was made from algae, you still wouldn't notice. Go on with your lives, people, nothing to see here.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Trains
Even three year old kids know what Trains are. I don't think that I need to go over this one.
Impact on the Environment (12/15):
Getting more Trains on the road instead of trucks will save a lot of gas because Trains don't stop for red lights and traffic and all that junk. And with high speed Trains becoming more popular, people can travel from one city to another just as quick as air travel but without the gas guzzling airplanes.
Practicality (4/10):
Trains. Hm... The problem is that you can't get rid of trucks altogether. I mean, could you imagine a FedEx Train showing up outside your house to deliver packages? Trains are so limited in where they can go and they take a whole lot of effort to load and unload and everything like that. The good news is that Trains have been around so long that the technology is very mature and people have figured out pretty well how to make Trains.
Sustainability (5/10):
Trains should last for a very very long time. If the rails are kept up pretty well and the Trains are maintained, the rail system should last for quite a long time. A lot of the rail lines that exist in this country have been around since before the Civil War, so 150 years means that Trains weren't just some fad. But there has to be a reason a lot of the rail lines have been shut down in the past 20 years, especially in the Midwest. The killer - Interstate system. Stupid Interstate System...
Awesomeness (8/10):
Trains are pretty darn awesome. I mean, what boy in this country didn't have some kind of Train that they played with when they were kids? Unless of course they run through your backyard, everyone loves trains.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Alright, let's tally those scores!
Biofuels: 25
Trains: 29
Way to go, Trains! Do you think that you can stand up to (1) Bikes? Well, yes, literally, I think a Train could take out a whole fleet of Bikes, but the ability to crush one another isn't a category in this Tournament. This round anyway....
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