Getting around: Fuel Use of various modes of transportation

At the bottom, note that the fuel use of a bicycle is shown as a fraction of the energy of a gallon of gas, or 16 Whopper-equivalents. But that’s only looking at the “caloric conversion,” i.e. the energy content of the fuel. But we don’t mine Whoppers out of the ground — that’s the advantage of fossil fuels: the energy is stored in them, and it’s energetically advantageous to recover them. This analysis doesn’t take into account the energy used to raise the beef, wheat and vegetables and deliver them in finished form. A Whopper costs at least as much as a gallon of gas (currently). Comparing food to gasoline is a tad more complicated than counting calories.