Dear Editor,
What's this I read? That tech companies are proposing electric passenger jets, "air-taxis" and various other flying gizmos? ("Electric passenger jet revolution ready for take off", GW 5.1.18) I despair! Are we completely bonkers?
Climate change is cranking up with extreme weather events following one after the other. Renewables are part of the answer but the energy from these sources should be reserved for essential services (e.g. schools, hospitals, lighting, etc.) and not go to fuel our indulgence in air-travel, motoring comfort and air-conditioned shopping.
Maybe one day, when we have a surplus of energy, we could possibly consider using some of it for "fun" but, at the moment, this is very far from being the case. So let's get real and start living more locally, using our legs, our bicycles and public transport. And kick these cloud-cuckoo "solutions" into the garbage ... where they belong!
The irony here is that we need not suffer: With the right infrastructure, a sleeper-train could get you to a whole host of European and British destinations overnight (i.e. you don't even need "high-speed"). For anyone who wants to go further, they should either accept the time required for that land or sea journey or pay a very high price for flying.
Regards
