Well if the New Green Deal comes to fruition, they won’t be flying anywhere. The banning of aircraft is somewhere in that “deal” too.
Ever since I was at university as an engineer in training I have been fascinated by energy, it's generation, conversion and wasteage. There are some absolutes in this equation that simply cant be ignored, and once accepted the debate must be moulded around them or it is just hot air.
1. People must eat
2. People must travel a certain amount locally.
3. People must travel transcontinentally occasionally.
4. People produce waste. Degeneration of any and all waste creates greenhouse gas. You may as well collect and burn the methane instead of SOME nat gas.
5 people in cold climates must keep warm.
I am sure there are lots more, but you get the point, you cant just turn humanity's needs off, that is stupid denial.
For sure it makes a lot of sense to use as much personal renewable energy as you can, I have five individual solar systems around the house. Water heating is the only one of consequence though, rest just convenience in powercuts and novelties.
BUT for the biggies, like transport, you cant get away from big energy and big grid. Now, how do you power the grid?
Nuclear isn't carbon free either, costs energy to mine and refine the fuel, but in time all of that can feed off the very electricity that nuclear itself produces. In engineering parlance that is called a closed loop, the holy grail.
I forsee a day not too far hence where aeroplanes can be nuclear powered too, not even a massive challenge.
In a nutshell, the future isn't dark and gloomy. There inst one major solution, but lots of little ones and one giant one - nuclear. We have it already!
