ARIOS-X1
I've read that you can design an engine using hydrogen as the power source which would be a nice alternative. Can't remember the web link to share though, it was a while back.

ty_ger07

Shockjockey
Why don't you ever hear about how much pollution that is coming from Jets [turbofan aircraft]? I know cars pollute a lot but jets burn thousands of gallons of fuel on every flight.

Almost nobody except military aircraft use jet engines any more; I think you mean turbofan engines or airlines.  Because turbofan engines are very efficient already, there aren't any good alternatives, and many people rely on airlines to keep their business moving and growing.  Over 12 million people travel by Airline in the USA per week.  And billions of pounds of cargo are shipped via airlines in the USA per week.  If people didn't need their packages any sooner than a week later and people didn't need to meet face-to-face, then maybe we wouldn't need airlines.
 
I know that it seems like large turbofan aircraft burn a lot of fuel, but actually, in relation to the number of people and pound of cargo per distance traveled, they are much more efficient than many other options.  Would you rather all those people got in their car and drove across the country and polluted separately, or would you rather they carpool in an airline?  And, remember, electric vehicles pollute as well.

ty_ger07

Shockjockey

ty_ger07

Shockjockey
Why don't you ever hear about how much pollution that is coming from Jets [turbofan aircraft]? I know cars pollute a lot but jets burn thousands of gallons of fuel on every flight.

Almost nobody except military aircraft use jet engines any more; I think you mean turbofan engines or airlines.  Because turbofan engines are very efficient already, there aren't any good alternatives, and many people rely on airlines to keep their business moving and growing.  Over 12 million people travel by Airline in the USA per week.  And billions of pounds of cargo are shipped via airlines in the USA per week.  If people didn't need their packages any sooner than a week later and people didn't need to meet face-to-face, then maybe we wouldn't need airlines.
 
I know that it seems like large turbofan aircraft burn a lot of fuel, but actually, in relation to the number of people and pound of cargo per distance traveled, they are much more efficient than many other options.  Would you rather all those people got in their car and drove across the country and polluted separately, or would you rather they carpool in an airline?  And, remember, electric vehicles pollute as well.

I would rather close all the airlines down if it would help my grandchildren live on a clean planet. All forms of burning oil have to go if this planet is to survive.

Maybe I wasn't clear.
 
1) If you shut down the airlines: you don't shut down the airlines, you shut down the economy.  There are many businesses which help keep this country running which need parts or supplies urgently delivered unexpectedly.  If you cut off air transportation, each business which had an unexpected failure would have to shut down for a week while waiting for parts, supplies, or systems experts to arrive to the location.  Businesses run off other businesses.  If one business shuts down for a week, they would stop supplying their product to another business which would then also need to shut down.  It is no exaggeration to say that there could easily be hundreds of business closed down during any given week if it weren't for air transportation.  That is only one example of how it would negatively affect our economy.  What sort of burden would that place on our economy just on its own?  How much trust, investment, profit, and wealth is lost by having hundreds of thousands of employees unemployed during any given week?  Maybe you work a simple job where you just deal with simple human issues and don't see the underlying infrastructure which keeps everything running. 
 
2) Shutting down the airlines wouldn't create a clean planet.  It would create hardly any difference.  Airlines are extremely efficient compared to many other forms of transportation.  Have you considered where the electrical energy for an electric car comes from, how that energy travels from the power plant to your house, how much is lost before it reaches the car or gets lost while being converted into chemical energy stored in the battery, how much energy is lost when the chemical energy stored in the battery gets converted back into electrical energy, and how much energy is lost in the electric motor, drive system, and tires?  The electric car is very inefficient if you look at the whole system it depends on and has a very long list of steps where energy is converted and lost.
 
As I said already, the airline is very efficient when you consider its mass scale in relation to how many people and pounds of cargo it moves and the airline has MUCH fewer energy loss vectors between the source of power (fuel) and the force of movement (thrust).  I dare you to find a more cost-effective and efficient system for taking people and goods large distances in mass at a speed necessary to keep important economy alive.  If a suitable replacement existed, there would already be someone making a ton of money off of it.  The only replacements which exist are slower and cheaper and each of them are also producers of pollution.
 
Lastly, as I said, electric vehicles are not clean.  Electric vehicles get their energy source predominantly from fossil fuels in the USA and store that energy in very caustic and chemically dangerous batteries which need to be created, replaced, and discarded which contributes to pollution of the environment.  It is hardly a better alternative.  Also, the electric car is physically made from fossil fuels (plastics/polymers).  If you want your grandchildren to live on a clean planet, you should stop having children and grandchildren.  Contributing to a decreased population is the most effective contribution you can make.  This electric car and airlines thing is just a giant smokescreen.
 

rjohnson11
I think the German's governments thoughts here are to ban the internal combustion engine and force use of electric engines and/or biological fuels. This would actually force automotive manufacturers in Germany to have a head start on many other countries.

lenfish
Here in the UK to improve sales they've come up with the idea of giving electric vehicles priority at traffic lights, junctions and letting them go the wrong way down one way streets in their own special lane. No one has any idea how it will work though!
Until the price of electric vehicles comes down, the range is increased between charges that that of conventional vehicles and fast charging points are as common as petrol stations I can't see them taking off in a big way.