Despite seemingly obvious conclusions, motorcycles are not necessarily more environmentally friendly than cars. What makes it hard to come to a definitive conclusion on the matter is the huge number of factors that must be considered in order to reach a truly definitive answer.
The Discovery Channel program "Mythbusters" took a crack at the question in an episode that premiered last week, and came to the conclusion that at best it's a wash, while at worst, motorcycles are far worse than cars.
The show rehashed the known data, discussed here in February 2010, such as that while motorcycles burn less fuel and therefore create less carbon dioxide (CO2), they also release more of the hydrocarbons that contribute to smog. Producers of the show acknowledged that they did not attempt to tackle the tougher questions regarding life-cycle costs such as environmental damage caused by mining and refining of metals, etc. They did make the point, however, that because cars are produced in much larger quantities there is an economy of scale that motorcycles cannot match. That is, environmental costs of manufacturing processes, once in place, are spread out over far more vehicles than is true with bikes.
There are other researchers, however, who have attempted to address these questions. A tool made available through the Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, called the Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment, supports the assessment that motorcycles are in fact not greener.
Other issues are tougher. For instance, how much does lane-sharing in places like Europe and California reduce emissions by allowing bikes to be moving rather than sitting in traffic burning fuel and polluting the air without getting anywhere? Of course, none of these inquiries even touch on how the equation works out with electric motorcycles.
While Mythbusters may have achieved their objective, to have called into question an assumption that appears simple on the surface, their findings in no way settle the issue. Nor do they claim to have done so. But they do provide just a little more substantiation on the side of the issue that claims motorcycles are not greener.
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