Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
With the world moving away from fossil fuels, what do you think the future of quick and easy worldwide plane travel will look like in the next 5 or 10 or even 20 years?
I have no statistics to back up this claim, but I think the majority of divers world wide fly somewhere warm to go diving.
The rest of us stay home and dive locally, at least those of us that have a body of water available.
A lot of times this means cold water and not very attractive to an lot of people who don’t like cold.
I don’t know what the future looks like for certain, I don’t think many people do, but I can use my imagination.
In a fossil fuel free world I see the use of electric more and more for certain things, cars, trains, trucks, etc. but what about planes? Is there a future for effective and efficient electric plane travel? I’m not so sure. Weight is a major concern as well as speed and range.
Is there such a thing as hydrogen powered jet engines?
Conventional plane travel uses an immense amount of jet fuel. A 747 flying 10 hours uses approximately 33 thousand gallons of fuel. Granted, a lot of that is used for takeoff, but still it’s huge. As we move forward I can’t see how this is sustainable in the least bit when you combine all the flights world wide every day. It boggles the mind. That doesn’t even include everything else that uses petroleum based fuels every day world wide!
I know that we can’t stay on this path.
I see high tech sail power and electric for passenger ship lines being more probable. Large sail ships that have computer controlled sails that are lightweight, fast, and ultra efficient. Yes, it would delay travel by days or weeks, but it would be cool to cross an ocean on a sail ship. I could see it as being a highlight of any overseas vacation. You would just need more time off that’s all.
There was a ship I heard about that was built to be a completely self sustaining vessel. This ship wasn’t small either.
They sailed around the world and when they came into their final port they actually had more fuel than when they left. The ship was sail powered, electric powered, and diesel powered. The sails were used most of the time which drove the prop which generated electricity, combined with air props that used wind for energy. The ship left with batteries not quite fully charged and they never used the diesel motors once. When they arrived to their final port the batteries were fully charged so that’s how they determined they came in with more fuel than when they left.
What about nuclear powered passenger liners to cross the seas? I suppose the anti nuclear people would have something to say about that plus the possibility of getting one hijacked by a hostile party to obtain the nuclear material and to cause a terrorist act.
What about shifting the focus on diving to include more domestic diving rather than always needing to fly somewhere?
Would you as a warm water diver ever consider staying within the continental US to dive either on the West Coast, Great Lakes, or Eastern Seaboard including Florida? And all the other lakes, springs, and quarries in between?
Somehow I can’t help but think that some of the decline in diving is directly related to how the quality of air travel has eroded in the last several years, and also political turmoil in certain parts of the world.
I would hope that during some of the big changes possibly happening that diving can somehow survive. Even though logistics to some of peoples’ favorite diving locations globally may become more challenging.
Do you love diving enough to consider going to alternative locations that are not warm and tropical if far flung locations became too expensive, too time consuming, impractical, or non existent?
I know this is long and rambley and reads more like an essay, and maybe I think too much, but I have a tendency to look forward.
Let’s discuss.
I have no statistics to back up this claim, but I think the majority of divers world wide fly somewhere warm to go diving.
The rest of us stay home and dive locally, at least those of us that have a body of water available.
A lot of times this means cold water and not very attractive to an lot of people who don’t like cold.
I don’t know what the future looks like for certain, I don’t think many people do, but I can use my imagination.
In a fossil fuel free world I see the use of electric more and more for certain things, cars, trains, trucks, etc. but what about planes? Is there a future for effective and efficient electric plane travel? I’m not so sure. Weight is a major concern as well as speed and range.
Is there such a thing as hydrogen powered jet engines?
Conventional plane travel uses an immense amount of jet fuel. A 747 flying 10 hours uses approximately 33 thousand gallons of fuel. Granted, a lot of that is used for takeoff, but still it’s huge. As we move forward I can’t see how this is sustainable in the least bit when you combine all the flights world wide every day. It boggles the mind. That doesn’t even include everything else that uses petroleum based fuels every day world wide!
I know that we can’t stay on this path.
I see high tech sail power and electric for passenger ship lines being more probable. Large sail ships that have computer controlled sails that are lightweight, fast, and ultra efficient. Yes, it would delay travel by days or weeks, but it would be cool to cross an ocean on a sail ship. I could see it as being a highlight of any overseas vacation. You would just need more time off that’s all.
There was a ship I heard about that was built to be a completely self sustaining vessel. This ship wasn’t small either.
They sailed around the world and when they came into their final port they actually had more fuel than when they left. The ship was sail powered, electric powered, and diesel powered. The sails were used most of the time which drove the prop which generated electricity, combined with air props that used wind for energy. The ship left with batteries not quite fully charged and they never used the diesel motors once. When they arrived to their final port the batteries were fully charged so that’s how they determined they came in with more fuel than when they left.
What about nuclear powered passenger liners to cross the seas? I suppose the anti nuclear people would have something to say about that plus the possibility of getting one hijacked by a hostile party to obtain the nuclear material and to cause a terrorist act.
What about shifting the focus on diving to include more domestic diving rather than always needing to fly somewhere?
Would you as a warm water diver ever consider staying within the continental US to dive either on the West Coast, Great Lakes, or Eastern Seaboard including Florida? And all the other lakes, springs, and quarries in between?
Somehow I can’t help but think that some of the decline in diving is directly related to how the quality of air travel has eroded in the last several years, and also political turmoil in certain parts of the world.
I would hope that during some of the big changes possibly happening that diving can somehow survive. Even though logistics to some of peoples’ favorite diving locations globally may become more challenging.
Do you love diving enough to consider going to alternative locations that are not warm and tropical if far flung locations became too expensive, too time consuming, impractical, or non existent?
I know this is long and rambley and reads more like an essay, and maybe I think too much, but I have a tendency to look forward.
Let’s discuss.
