Re:Airlines Embrace Pollution Plan That Could Cost Them $24B
by mikeash on Monday September 26, 2016 @01:00PM
(#12583493)
Surface travel can be great, depending on what you're comparing against.
Against single-occupant cars, airliners win big. Airliners typically see 80-100 passenger-miles per gallon, versus about 36MPG for the average American car.
But if you get a more efficient car and add more people to it, airliners don't win anymore. Put four people in a new Prius and you're looking at about 200 passenger-miles per gallon. Long-distance busses and trains do really well too. And of course you can power surface transportation with alternative energy sources much more easily. Electric trains are common and electric cars can make long trips now, while nobody really even knows how to build a useful electric airliner.
I don't understand the emphasis put on air travel when it comes to emissions, and it's definitely better than typical car habits, but surface travel in general can be a lot better than air travel.
Against single-occupant cars, airliners win big. Airliners typically see 80-100 passenger-miles per gallon, versus about 36MPG for the average American car.
But if you get a more efficient car and add more people to it, airliners don't win anymore. Put four people in a new Prius and you're looking at about 200 passenger-miles per gallon. Long-distance busses and trains do really well too. And of course you can power surface transportation with alternative energy sources much more easily. Electric trains are common and electric cars can make long trips now, while nobody really even knows how to build a useful electric airliner.
I don't understand the emphasis put on air travel when it comes to emissions, and it's definitely better than typical car habits, but surface travel in general can be a lot better than air travel.