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Why is commercial aviation as a form of transport a useful goal? There are alternatives that have realistic energy efficiencies and use available technologies,

Why is commercial aviation as a form of transport a useful goal? There are alternatives that have realistic energy efficiencies and use available technologies, like rail and nuclear shipping.

immmmmm 4y ago
yes! rail is amazing in term of efficiency, a common high speed train has around a credit card worth of contact area with the rail for the whole train! it's also quite relaxing and socially interesting. the problem is that rail is "boring" and rarely get sufficient funding.
- janef0421 4y ago
  It also allows for much more productivity while travelling, which is important for business travellers.
- KSteffensen 4y ago
  Rail is quite a lot less flexible than air travel. If you have a plane you can pretty much go anywhere that has a strip of asfalt of the right length. With rail you need to lay out the track between the two points with all the difficulties involved in that. It's wired vs wireless ethernet. Which do you have in your home?
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Energy efficiency will become radically less important as energy cost continues on down. Then other things become more important, and drive choices.
bluGill 4y ago
There are no useful alternatives to airplanes for crossing a continent, or an ocean. I agree we should do more trains, but they are limited to around 1500km per trip before flying is enough better that you look like a fool for suggesting it.
- janef0421 4y ago
  It would be slower, yes, but you could still get from London to Beijing in a few days, which seems reasonable when you look at historical travel patterns and the sheer inefficiency of the alternatives.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    This is not 1290 when Marco Polo was traveling around. This is 2022 when people have seen much faster and nicer alternatives. Nobody is going to put up with days of travel when they can fly anymore. I'm not convinced trains are more efficient than planes at that distance either - I don't' know how to analyses it, but planes see much less wind resistance because of altitude.

Why is commercial aviation as a form of transport a useful goal? There are alternatives that have realistic energy efficiencies and use available technologies, like rail and nuclear shipping.

immmmmm 4y ago

yes! rail is amazing in term of efficiency, a common high speed train has around a credit card worth of contact area with the rail for the whole train! it's also quite relaxing and socially interesting. the problem is that rail is "boring" and rarely get sufficient funding.

janef0421 4y ago
It also allows for much more productivity while travelling, which is important for business travellers.
KSteffensen 4y ago
Rail is quite a lot less flexible than air travel. If you have a plane you can pretty much go anywhere that has a strip of asfalt of the right length. With rail you need to lay out the track between the two points with all the difficulties involved in that. It's wired vs wireless ethernet. Which do you have in your home?
ncmncm 4y ago
Energy efficiency will become radically less important as energy cost continues on down. Then other things become more important, and drive choices.

bluGill 4y ago

There are no useful alternatives to airplanes for crossing a continent, or an ocean. I agree we should do more trains, but they are limited to around 1500km per trip before flying is enough better that you look like a fool for suggesting it.

janef0421 4y ago
It would be slower, yes, but you could still get from London to Beijing in a few days, which seems reasonable when you look at historical travel patterns and the sheer inefficiency of the alternatives.
- bluGill 4y ago
  This is not 1290 when Marco Polo was traveling around. This is 2022 when people have seen much faster and nicer alternatives. Nobody is going to put up with days of travel when they can fly anymore. I'm not convinced trains are more efficient than planes at that distance either - I don't' know how to analyses it, but planes see much less wind resistance because of altitude.