Originally Posted by
Gauges and Dials
Equally undisputed is that moving a given load a given distance by air, uses many times the amount of fuel, and produces many times the amount of harmful gases, as moving the same load the same distance by trucks and tankers.
Really!? Is it undisputed? An organization called Friends of the Earth, an entrenched crowd of tree-huggers, states that trains use more fuel per passenger than an airplane. Hence their long-standing slogan: "The best trip is the one that's never taken".
Originally Posted by
Gauges and Dials
I'd be interested to see an analysis that shows, for any place on Earth to which commercial air transport exists, that getting fuel there by air uses less fuel or produces less pollution than getting it there by any other means.
Uses less fuel OR produces less pollution? Those two are not the same. Airplane uses high-quality kerosene with minimum sulfur content while barges and trucks use the heaviest fuels. As for the "analysis", I refer you to my answer above to the Brit who advocates shooting down passenger airplanes every time their crew mistakely dials a wrong squak code.