this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
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Solarpunk technology
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Technology for a Solar-Punk future.
Airships and hydroponic farms...
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Certain types of freight are already expected to travel slowly... but mostly heavy/bulky items that don't make sense to put on an aircraft where weight and space come at a premium. That calculation isn't really going to change with airships, it will still make more sense to put those items on a train, a truck or a boat at much lower cost.
Really the only reason to ship cargo by air is the speed... if you can't get the speed why bother with air at all?
If we can get serious eco reforms done (and the word "if" is doing a lot of work here) it'll come down to which has the least emissions per mile.
We could also do more airship freight to facilitate economic growth in places that have poor infrastructure, or through terrain it would be too damaging to cut a highway through.
But then, when have we ever sacrificed money for a better world?