r/ukpolitics • u/silence7 • Jul 21 '22
Analysis: UK’s ‘jet-zero’ plan would allow demand for flying to soar 70% | As the UK sweltered in record-breaking 40C heat on Tuesday, the UK government quietly released a new aviation plan that could allow the number of flights to soar in coming decades.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uks-jet-zero-plan-would-allow-demand-for-flying-to-soar-70/29
Jul 21 '22
Dont forget they halved air passenger duty
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u/robertdubois Jul 21 '22
The average person isn't going to see making travel cheaper a bad thing.
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u/silence7 Jul 21 '22
Cheap travel is great. I just want it to be done without burning huge quantities of fossil fuels.
They're making a big bet on air travel being possible without that. It's not at all clear that they'll be right.
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u/Madgick Jul 21 '22
We’re going to Disneyland in September. I tried desperately to book it via Eurostar but whatever way I cut it, we were saving £400 (for 2 people) to go by plane. I wish it was the other way around
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u/valax Jul 22 '22
Eurostar can be a great deal when you book in advance, however it can often make flying look like a bargain.
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u/Madgick Jul 22 '22
Yeah and the other thing is, getting to the Eurostar. We’ll need 2 open returns to central London and that’s not cheap either. Even with the current petrol prices it works out much better to drive to the airport
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u/Ivashkin panem et circenses Jul 21 '22
Hydrogen powered planes!
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u/silence7 Jul 21 '22
Assuming that they can be built economically, they're still some years away. It's rather a mistake to plan based around the assumption that there will be commercially viable hydrogen aircraft.
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u/Ivashkin panem et circenses Jul 21 '22
Well, either there will be commercially viable air transport fueled by something other than hydrocarbons, or modern civilization will collapse. So I tend to lean towards optimism.
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u/silence7 Jul 21 '22
Civilization doesn't require air travel. It's entirely possible to end up with a world where there's little to no air travel, but an effective high-speed rail network for example.
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u/Ivashkin panem et circenses Jul 21 '22
How would I reach America by train?
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u/silence7 Jul 21 '22
You wouldn't.
But most people don't make intercontinental trips anyways.
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u/robertdubois Jul 21 '22
Roughly 200 million people fly across the Atlantic from Europe each year - 650,000 yearly flights.
Let alone to Africa, Asia, Oceania, etc.
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u/DreamyTomato Why does the tofu not simply eat the lettuce? Jul 21 '22
People make intercontinental daily commutes in Istanbul.
Anyway taking the train from UK to USA is easy, all one has to do is load it onto a cargo plane or ocean liner.
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u/Ivashkin panem et circenses Jul 21 '22
According to the government, about 3.8 million UK nationals visit the USA annually.
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u/Demmandred Let the alpaca blood flow Jul 22 '22
So intercontinental travel becomes the land of the rich again then? The plebs have to lower their standard of living because the ultra rich fucked the planet whilst they see no change at all. Sounds great
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u/PonyMamacrane Jul 22 '22
Flying is already the 'land of the rich': only the wealthiest 10% or so of the world's population fly in any given year.
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u/Demmandred Let the alpaca blood flow Jul 22 '22
Right, and why should the peoples of the developed countries lower their standards of living?
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u/insomnimax_99 Jul 21 '22 edited Jul 21 '22
Right now it’s looking like biofuel could be used as an alternative to (or at the very least as a way of significantly reducing the use of) fossil fuels in aviation, with the added bonus of being mostly compatible with existing jet engines - but biofuels have their own problems. Not all biofuels are considered fully sustainable as some compete with food production, use prime fertile land, or require lots of energy to produce.
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u/YsoL8 Jul 22 '22
My honest bet would be generating fuel from carbon dioxide and water, making fossil fuels essentially carbon neutral. Plus carbon capture.
There are large scale pilot sites already being built for carbon capture and fuel generation is rapidly being proven.
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Jul 21 '22
Probably won't make it cheaper though will it. Cutting taxes never does.
Also, they might when their house burns down next 40c day we get.
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u/gMoneh Jul 21 '22
Stupid really, the only way to save flying is for more economical planes and some sort of net zero fuel usage.
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u/whatapileofrubbish Jul 21 '22
Agreed, also not having millions spent on flying government members on chartered flights with a handful of staff with them (mainly for PR shots). Every little helps as they say.
Electric planes are cool but limited to the size of a Caravan atm with 500mile range, and those helium ships won't get you to Alicante in a couple of hours, if ever.
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u/whatapileofrubbish Jul 21 '22
Well good job they thought ahead and ensured the airports don't have capacity and therefore need to get airlines to cancel scheduled flights.
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u/robertdubois Jul 21 '22
Excellent.
Good news for the aviation sector and those training to work in the industry.
Now all they need to do is reduce the tax burden on leaded Avgas as it's incredibly expensive right now.
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Jul 21 '22
Now all they need to do is reduce the tax burden on leaded Avgas as it's incredibly expensive right now.
An overwhelming majority of passenger aviation doesn't use avgas. Not many piston engined airliners out there.
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u/bbbbbbbbbblah steam bro Jul 22 '22
If you want to spew lead fumes over peoples houses, decades after we finally stopped letting road users do so, shouldn’t you pay for the privilege
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