Fly and be Damned: What Now for Aviation and Climate Change? [Hardcover]

Simply put the book provides a very valuable insight into the world of aviation, how it has developed and how it can be adapted to a more sustainable track. While the detail is comprehensive it is the nuggets of analysis / commentary which make the work a must read. Consider this one thought .... 'Conventional aviation is .....very good value for money if the environmental consequences are ignored' ..... Which neatly sums up modern societies whole approach to fossil use.

I would have liked sketches to support some of the future aviation designs offered and I would enjoy challenging some of the proposals - but the message is clear that a new approach to aviation is not only needed but also achievable.

Ps - worth reading his other titles to further understand the global Sustainability challenge / opportunity.

Peter McManners' book comes at an opportune time. It an easy and entertaining read forthrightly putting across the case that we need to talk about aviation.
The book addresses the role aviation currently plays in climate change and how this will increase with the continuation of business as usual. Throughout the book the author adopts a highly informative but never overloaded approach. The facts of climate change due to CO2 emissions are pinpointed by recalling the most pressing reflections, observations and foresights. Likewise economic and environmental assessment and analysis remain descriptive without patronising or moralising. Readers can form their own views as the issues are untangled from the complexities which otherwise easily scotch proposals for solutions in this all too familiar debate. Readers are also provided with a considerable amount of well-selected sources and references which invite further investigation.
In the first part titled `addicted to flying' Peter McManners relates probable devastating future implications of aviation to life style and travel habits within our society. An aspiring new middle class in countries such as China and India, who have the same entitlement to enjoyment of wealth and economic freedom as citizens of developed countries, will soon contribute to the expansion of global aviation and the associated CO2 emissions to unsafe levels. While long-term changes to our global eco-system need to be addressed, the thoughtless and increasingly meaningless use of aviation in support of short-sighted investments such as second homes abroad questions the rationale for aviation in its current state as much as its impact on global warming.
The second part, `aviation today', first turns back to the history of aviation and the international agreement on aviation from 1944, the Chicago Convention. Acknowledging the soaring progress in the technology of aviation, which could continue to a further golden age for aviation based on new green technologies. According to McManners this step, however, is prevented by reliance on outdated taxation avoidance for aviation fuel as provided for in the Convention. The political post-war arrangement driven by Churchill and Roosevelt accommodated a genuine peace-creating and constructive relation-building process; nowadays it serves an outdated fossil fuel economy which is no longer compatible with the requirements for international climate change prevention.
Finally the third part, `the future of aviation' focuses on an optimal green future for aviation. It embraces questions of design, technology and global aviation policy framework according with the principles of precaution and sustainability. The latter will be hot topics in the year of RIO 2012, forming constituting and defining building blocks of the triangular composition of sustainable economy, social cohesion and environmental protection. As regards the technological aspect, the use of biomimicry supported by computer controlled advances, the creation of hybrid air vehicles and well-designed low-carbon aircraft is already in its infancy and provides a delightful outlook on new research opportunities and production sectors. However, political willingness is essential for the paradigm shift towards long-term planning in support of a sustainable world society. Most convincingly McManners detects capacity for speeded-up progress using knowledge developed for defence purposes which could be adapted to deliver green technological improvements based on a re-assessment of the economics.
The objection that could be made to McManners' book is that in arguing for the transition and accepting that it will be disruptive, McManners does not tell us how changes in economic priorities and preferences can be manageable without causing social harm. In other words it is not clear who and what will safeguard changes such as loss of employment opportunities which are based on our current model of the fossil economy. However, his study is an initial comprehensive contribution designed to raise awareness, to identify the role each member of society has to play in the debate for sustainable aviation and to lay solid foundations for a broader societal discourse on the matter. In this sense it is highly desirable that the book becomes widely distributed and forms part of any sustainability discussion whether in the educational, commercial or political sector.