Cycling @ Mae Hia City to reduce greenhouse gases

Mae Hia has been a popular city for physical activities since time immemorial.

This image is well known to the people of Chiang Mai. Therefore, it is not surprising that each morning and evening there is a convoy of cars and motorcycles lined up in rows, waiting for their families and owners, who have come to exercise, to return in a few minutes. On one hand, this picture indicates a lack of green space and quality recreation areas in Chiang Mai. On the other, it illustrates that such traffic inevitably increases carbon emissions in the area.

The issue, therefore, of ‘carbon management’ of local activities becomes essential if we wish to remain carbon neutral or, in other words, reduce our environmental impact, whilst simultaneously nurturing the factors which contribute to improving the overall environment.

Travel by bicycle is one of the options that many people discuss, as it simultaneously meets the needs of both energy consumption and travel to nearby destinations.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), awarded the Bicycle Friendly University Award from 2019-2023 by The League American Bicyclist, conducted a study which produced interesting results, demonstrating how when a person’s commute by car is substituted for bicycle, carbon emissions produced by that person’s daily activities are reduced by up to 67%, with optimal distance for body and carbon emissions being around half a day, or up to 20km.

The Research Team for the Development of Mechanisms, Business Models and Projects that Facilitate Area-Based Investment, in striving to turn Mae Hia Municipality into a low-carbon city, have realized the effectiveness of using bicycles both in terms of traffic and exercise. Accordingly, a comparative study was conducted of travel by car along 6 routes in the Mae Hia municipal area, compared with travel by bicycle, which produced some interesting information, and invites us now to investigate bicycles further, as follows.

“Activities on 6 routes with a total distance of 16.11 kilometers; estimated total number of vehicles operating on the routes 4,408,470 vehicles/year, divided into 1,146,202 privately-owned cars/year, 793,525 minibuses/year, and 2,468,743 motorcycles/year”.

If provisions are made for activities on such routes, like walking and cycling paths, the total amount of greenhouse gases is estimated to be reduced by 852 tCO2/year. Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are calculated using the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) method. Specifically, for Ban Tha Kham, Moo 5, Chiang Mai 108, Chiang Mai 121, Mae Hia Municipal Road, and Royal Park Rajapruek (two routes), it was found:

Route 1. Suan Lok area – Ban Ubosot. Total distance: 3.69km. If using bicycles or walking, GHG emissions are estimated to be reduced by 129 tCO2/year.

Route 2. Ban Tha Kham, Moo 5. Total distance: 1.57km. GHG emissions estimated reduction 12 tCO2/year.

Route 3. Chiang Mai 108. Total distance: 2.14km. GHG emissions estimated reduction 261 tCO2/year.

Route 4. Chiang Mai 121. Distance: 5.22km. GHG emissions estimated reduction 394 tCO2/year.

Route 5. Mae Hia Municipality. Distance: 1.35km. GHG emissions estimated reduction 13 tCO2/year.

Route 6. Royal Park Rajapruek (two routes): Distance 2.14km. GHG emissions estimated reduction 43 tCO2/year.

Even in terms of numbers and units, it may be difficult to visualize the effects. However, if comparing against the use of private cars in Mae Hia Municipality on the whole, it is evident that bicycles remain a viable option, and probably one of the main solutions together with promoting walking, use of electric trains, and city-level mass transit systems, for significantly reducing carbon emissions in the Area of Mae Hia Municipality.