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France "Citizen's Climate Convention"

I think young and fit people will return to mass transport and everybody else will avoid it at all costs.

So whether people travel by air or by train or bus etc will be moot.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

So whether people travel by air or by train or bus etc will be moot.

I strongly disagree. Airplanes get cleaned between rotations, even if that cleaning isn’t perfect. Trains – to say nothing of the Tube (London Underground) – are filthy at the best of times. No way will I get on any public transport other than CAT until this is at least somewhat under control.

Peter wrote:

What we need is nuclear fusion

Yeah, that really is the single most important technology to master, in my view. Once fully perfected and miniaturized, you could power not only the entire electricity grid with it, but also all kinds of vehicles, including aircraft, with fusion power. Of course it is all science fiction right now, but we know from physics that it works in principle (and by looking at the big fusion reactor that illuminates our world every day, aka “the sun”), now all we need is the proper advances in material sciences, magnetic fields and miniaturization to unlock this power for our own use.

Imagine a fusion-powered aircraft, you could probably fly around the globe several times on just a few litres of water (yeah I know, not exactly water you got from the tap, but you know…)

Low-hours pilot
EDVM Hildesheim, Germany

172driver wrote:

I strongly disagree. Airplanes get cleaned between rotations, even if that cleaning isn’t perfect. Trains – to say nothing of the Tube (London Underground) – are filthy at the best of times. No way will I get on any public transport other than CAT until this is at least somewhat under control.

But contrary to public perception, SARS-CoV2 seems to spread mainy via aerosol, not contaminated surfaces. So having the plane cleaned during stops might do little for your infection risk, as long as you inhale virus particles that somebody else a row or two behind you exhaled. That goes for airplanes, trains, trams and buses all the same, though.

Low-hours pilot
EDVM Hildesheim, Germany

Scientists and engineers have been trying to master electricity production from fusion since the 1950’s. Despite the occasional excitement it is probably never going to produce electricity for the masses in my lifetime.
Fusion is the nirvana of the physicists whereas fuel cells have long served the same purpose for the chemists.
Fuel cells are available now including 10kw versions used to power lights for films and television. Problem is a ready and cheap supply of hydrogen along with ots storage, although for transport one group claim to have developed a system for storing hydrogen as a solid.

France

MedEwok wrote:

Yeah, that really is the single most important technology to master, in my view.

That and the Infinite Improbability Drive – but im not sure which one will be market ready first ;-)

Germany

Malibuflyer wrote:

That and the Infinite Improbability Drive – but im not sure which one will be market ready first ;-)

Two thumbs up for the HH2G reference!

Low-hours pilot
EDVM Hildesheim, Germany

I wouldn’t hold my breath for fusion reactors, not even the non-transportable type: ITER project

EGTF, LFTF

The distressing thing about ITER are not the technical challenges but the sheer amount of time that was lost due to squabbling over which country it should be built in. While the human race is still doing that sort of thing, I worry about the future.

Andreas IOM

The most distressing thing about ITER is that some years ago I lost my best people to jobs on that project. It’s a great welfare project for the overeducated

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