[Broken_Hippo]

Maybe, maybe not. It isn't like most folks can live off of a garden plot of a normal house, if you even have a garden plot.

I cannot cycle 20km fairly leisurely in an hour: I live in a mountainous area, but lived most of my life on flat ground and going uphill is freaking difficult, even if I'm going at a leisurely speed - and sometimes, downhill is brakes all the way down.

And I don't know how much this person drives. Most places I go to are within walking distance, and I'm pretty sure 8 hours of ditches would be less work than an entire summer of gardening (where I'd have to rent a plot, since I'm an apartment dweller). The majority of my foodstuffs are going to still be driven in, too.

[Hendrikto]

> I cannot cycle 20km fairly leisurely in an hour: I live in a mountainous area

Not a good counter argument. In this case, the moped will also use more fuel.

[Broken_Hippo]

Sure, it isn't the best, but I know lots of other folks cannot either, and reasons vary. The point really is that cycling 20km isn't realistic for a wide swath of population.

And sure, it might use more fuel... when you go uphill. Downhill, you might not even need the power.

[tinus_hn]

You can also leisurely coast downhill on a bicycle at a much higher speed than 20 km/h.

[Hendrikto]

> Downhill, you might not even need the power.

Same as with a bike.

[Scoundreller]

> It isn't like most folks can live off of a garden plot of a normal house

The trick is to grow for value and flavour, not staples/calories. Probably still a terrible $ yield.

Nonetheless, I think the 1 abused apple tree is going give me months of apples.

[helsinkiandrew]

Fair enough, but my main point was that cycling or walking 20km probably consumes less energy than the “hard work” of harvesting methane for 8 hours.

[Broken_Hippo]

Possibly, but this isn't really the tradeoff. It is using energy when you have time to reap the benefits when you actually need the quick travel. 20km is going to take hours to walk in one trip.

[toomanybeersies]

Now I'm imagining an alternate history/sci-fi planet where a neolithic society manages to effectively harness swamp gas (and eventually develop anaerobic digesters to produce it) as an energy source, instead of relying on timber/biomass.