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Warns? I'd say that's good news. Let them die and only recreate a downsized aviation industry that's compatible with limiting climate change, with the medium-t
by hannob 7y ago
Warns? I'd say that's good news.
Let them die and only recreate a downsized aviation industry that's compatible with limiting climate change, with the medium-term goal to switch it to alternative fuels.
- kjakm 7y agoThousands of people out of jobs at a time when they won't be able to get another one. Yes, that is good news /s
- cmckn 7y agoYeah, my partner just started climbing the ladder at a regional. I'm not seeing a silver lining in his career being flushed down the commode.
- beatgammit 7y agoIt certainly will suck in the short term, but I doubt long term demand for air travel will go down, so most should be able to be rehired at one of the airlines that remain.
- the8472 7y agoHaving a working ecosystem is required. Having jobs is not.
- Charlie_26 7y agoI 100% agree. This is a silver lining to Coronavirus. My fear is, these companies will get bailed out like the banks.
- bluedevil2k 7y agoAlternative fuels for airplanes?? I’m curious what you propose to haul 200 people across the Atlantic. Batteries? Solar?
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago> Alternative fuels for airplanes? Synthetic jet fuel can be out of atmospheric carbon. (Chemically, it's jet fuel. Just synthesized instead of being pumped out of the ground.) It's more expensive than the out-of-the-ground stuff. But a lot of the price premium is currently due to a lack of economies of scale. Airlines could go carbon neutral within a few years. Replacing the power plant is overkill.
- seiferteric 7y agoThis sounds like pure fantasy. A quick google search says the industry uses ~6.9*10^10 liters of jet fuel per year. Energy density of jet fuel is ~35 MJ/L. You would need at 100% efficient conversion ~76GW of continuous power to produce that. Realistically probably like 10x that... Current installed solar capacity is like 650GW world wide and it is not sunny all the time.
- beatgammit 7y agoAnd solar isn't "synthetic fuel". I don't think anyone is seriously recommending solar planes, at least not in the short term.
- seiferteric 7y agoI was talking about using solar (as an example) as the energy input to produce synthetic fuel, not solar planes.
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago> Current installed solar capacity is like 650GW world wide Synthetic fuel is derived from hydrocarbons assembled from atmospheric C02. It can be powered by anything. Installed solar is irrelevant.
- seiferteric 7y agoWhere does the energy come from? CO2 is already "burned" you can't make an energetic hydrocarbon without providing energy, effectively "unburning"/reducing it.