Monthly Dose of Inspiration #5
Sustainable Travel: Trains, Planes & Hydrogen
Which sustainable travel innovation has caught your attention? I’m trying to get a better idea of this sustainable travel future. I would love to hear about your inspirations. Of course, we should also just travel less. On the other hand, traveling brings so much inspiration, relaxation, and global connection. Here are some things that have inspired me:
Marieke Koekoek from the European political party Volt campaigns for higher investments in European train infrastructure and a Skyscanner-like application that helps citizens find the best prices for their tickets. In some ways, trains are the technically feasible option for short-to-mid distance sustainable travel, but the lobby for aviation is currently much stronger.
I’ve been really surprised by the deals Eurail offers. I knew these deals existed for those under a certain age, but even as an adult, for only €170-€212, you can travel for 4 days through Europe. I tried it for my last holiday, but unfortunately and strangely enough, for my trip from the Netherlands to northern Spain, I had to pay almost double the cost for seat reservations. Still, I’ve had friends with great experiences when they booked early.
Companies like Cranfield Aerospace and Fokker Next Gen are aiming to develop planes that use hydrogen as sustainable fuel for aviation. Cranfield Aerospace seems to focus on short-to-mid distance flights with a small capacity and is far along in developing these planes. Fokker Next Gen seems to aim for the challenging task of long-distance flights with larger capacities. These long-distance flights have a much bigger polluting impact. Still, both strategies could lead to the holy grail of sustainable aviation. Additionally, using different airplane designs for more efficient fuel use, like this design by Jetzero, could be a big part of the solution.
Some time ago, I was also very inspired by this wild (and perhaps unvalidated) idea of Elon Musk to create planes that use fuel to ascend quickly and then slowly descend to their destination, using much less energy. It may be unrealistic, but I love these conceptually smart ideas.
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