Empty Skies August 17, 2008
Posted by Dwight Furrow in Current Events, Dwight Furrow's Posts.trackback
We face a considerable challenge in eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels for our vehicles. But there is a technological solution–hybrid, electrical, and perhaps eventually hydrogen fueled engines–that is very close to implementation, given the political will.
But there may be no such solution with regard to air travel.
This discouraging article details the problems and imagines a future in which air transportation is sharply limited. It is not a pretty sight.
You know, it’s funny they mentioned the Kyoto Protocol, or rather Kyoto itself (well not that funny, but coincidental to my idea).
Japan and France have some of the world’s fastest trains on the planet. I don’t understand why the US doesn’t implement them as a mainstream medium of travel. They may be slower than airplanes by about 200 mph, but it’s still practical. Besides, who’s to say that without the right engineering, they couldn’t speed that up to even faster than 500 mph (the average plane speed). And since they only use electricity, it would have less of an impact on the environment.