Air Travel is a huge polluter. What might be some global travel alternatives in the near future?

Answer 1

The greener travel alternative to air travel is air travel. Through the application of technology, aircraft engines are becoming increasingly greener. Airplane pollute substantially less than they did 15 years ago. I think that there is little reason to not believe that the trend in the reduction in pollution by aircraft will continue.

Answer 2

Your question is flawed in that it proceeds from a false assumption, that air travel is a "huge polluter." I can't speak to that without dismissing that premise, and on doing so, I find there is actually an interesting question.

People aren't going back to steamships and freighters anytime soon. They are too slow and there are not enough of them. Also, nobody from the Star Trek future has yet been kind enough to step into a time machine with blueprints for a matter transporter, so that's out the picture for the moment too.

If you are looking for ways to reduce pollution, then the simple answer is that we don't travel as much. But that leads to other unexpected problems (like isolation).

Answer 3

I don't think there's a viable alternative. No one's going to willingly give up flying so the emphasis is on making planes more fuel efficient and offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions. Many airports now have automated systems where you key in details of your flights, it calculates your total emissions and you can then offset these (usually by getting a third party to plant an appropriate number of trees).

Any interference from governments such as imposing taxes or other financial penalties on flights isn't going to be well received by either the public or those in the aviation industry and the only people who are going to be affected are those that are least well off to start with.

The alternatives, such as they are, are what we already have - ferries, drive, train, coach etc.

All in all air travel isn't as bad as it's made out to be - it contributes to global warming but only 4.6% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to aeroplanes. It's enough, but the way some media have reported things you'd be forgiven for thinking that air travel is the only polluter and if we don't stop now we'll all be dead by this time next year.

Answer 4

NO REAL ALTERNATIVE TILL NOW !!!

SO MY PROPOSAL:

Use H2 as a fuel ! Why ? Because 30% of an airplane mass for longhauls is made by fuel ! H2 has an average energy density that is 3 times higher (in KJ/Kg)...
In turn, the supporting structure for this huge fuel quantity becomes lighter... so all the plane becomes itself lighter (incremental weight saving).
H2 wouldn´t require special turbines... so no problems till here and even doesn´t need any firing since it is self-igniting at a wave-speed given by only 40 mbar overpressure ! fantastic ! And whereelse than on high altitudes do you find the low temperatures to store H2 ?

Ok there might be 20% losses at converting methane into H2 but the result would still save A LOT of fuel !!!

People might just be too stupid to implement the solution !

Answer 5

You can sit and debate the efficiency of jet engines that burn fossil fuel all day long, and at the end of that day you're going to admit that KE STILL equals 1/2mv^2 . For all of you slogan chanters, it means that fuel consumption still goes up with the square of the speed you're traveling.

So a real answer to the question would be to slow the hell down and maybe think about lighter than air aircraft which used to be called dirigibles or blimps that don't need to move at 100mph plus to keep from falling out of the sky and could get by with a small efficient engine running on biofuels like ethanol. Or better yet on hydrogen which was manufactured either by methane stripping or H2O splitting with electricity generated at a solar, wind or nuke plant.

This proposal though would meet stiff resistance from greenies who buy early Led Zeppelin albums though, it doesn't take a lot to scare them.

Answer 6

Air travel is the alternative, just with a better fuel.

Answer 7

By polluter I don't think so .The production of CO2 is not a pollutant ,God put the plants here to process the CO2 as the plants need the CO2 as bad as u need oxygen. Give them a fair brake as we cannot make it without them.

Answer 8

Air travel is not a major polluter, who told you that it was?