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ByteSmith:
The math of your back of envelope calculation is incorrect. Let's say your input data is correct. it takes 42 kilocalories to ride a bike for one mile. One calorie is 4.1855 Joules. So that's 175,800 joules, or 175.8 KW*second, that amount is 0.04883 KWH. The electrocity price today at Bloomberg.com is 7 cents per KWH. The cost if using electricity is 0.342 cents for that one mile drive.
My prius gives me 60 miles per gallon, at $2.75 per gallon today, it costs me 4.6 cents driving the prius one mile.
Actually the above calculation has not taken into the consideration that biomass is extremely inefficient. At 175,800 joules to propel one mile (1609 meters), the force is 109 newton. You don't need 109 newton force to propel a bike, 10 newton is enough. Your biomass is running at 9% efficiency. At 10 newton force, propeling one mile costs 16,090 joules. If the electric motor has an efficiency of 50% (the state of the art is probably 70% or 80%), it costs 32,180 joules in electricity, or 0.00894 KWH, or 0.0626 cents of electricity. That's way cheaper than your $1.99 per pack spaghetti!
Also, no reasonable human being eat raw spaghette. You need to cook it, which add extrat fuel cost to cook. You need to add salt, tomato sauce, which adds extra cost to produce salt and tomato. You need a wife to cook for you, which adds to the cost. Human biomass, is just too damn expensive and inefficient.
Fuel cell is the future. If we are successful in cold fusion and if we find enough palladium, the energy crisis will be solved once for all. That's why I heavily invest in a palladium mining company, SWC.
Palladium - Metal of Infinite Energy
http://stockology.blogspot.com
Even if cold fusion works, it doesn't solve the problem of environmental destruction.
Imagine if starting tomorrow, fossil fuels cost $0 and were emissions-free. This is the dream of cold fusion, no?
Most people would drive a lot more, use a lot more electricity, and consume a lot more food, because everything would get a lot cheaper. People would have more children, because it would be cheaper to provide for them.
To supply the greater population and greater consumption per capita, the world would need to accelerate the destruction of rainforest and other environments that stand in the way of consumerism.
Doesn't sound to me like a goal worth wishing for.
I think you guys are overestimating the number of calories used on a bicycle. "34 calories per mile (about 21 calories per km)" for a 175 lb person is what this site estimates:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm
Howstuffworks also has this chart comparing different activities:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=question527.htm&url=http...
How are you getting 60 MPH with your Prius? Have you had a modification done? I haven't heard of anyone doing that well, even 50 MPG without a modification. We are getting about 45. Are you using the "EV Mode", perhaps?
My prius has never been modified in anyway. I am just using it for daily commute to and from work and for grocery shopping. All I do is slow down a bit to 60 MPG to 65 MPG on highways, and stick to 35 MPG to 40 MPG on local roads. I also use the pulse and glide technique. I do not understand how you are getting as low as 45 MPG? Even if I try to waste gasoline I could not get that low. There is a web called PriusChat.com. It may help you.
If I want to push the limit, I can get 65 MPG averaged over a whole tank of gasoline.
Palladium - Metal of Infinite Energy
http://stockology.blogspot.com