Disclaimer: This text reflects only the opinion of its author and does not in any way commit the official word of the Air and Space Academy
By Jean-Claude RIPOLL, Full Member
The world is going through a general economic crisis of a depth not seen since the Second World War. Of course, the transport that is the bloodstream of this sick society is profoundly affected, and among them, aviation is affected in a major way.
Two extremes, one profoundly natural and biological (SARS-COV-2), the other profoundly artificial and technological (the air transport system), meet, in a drama that calls into question the comfort of humanity. Admitting that a virus can reduce, even by a tiny proportion, the world’s population, now seems unacceptable to humanity, when it sometimes indulges in consequent massacres. The immediate drama highlights the approach of other tragedies that could result from blinding to the vital character of some of the relationships between humanity and nature. This is what is meant by climate change, for example.
Is it then necessary to indulge in propitiatory sacrifices to avert the danger of populations threatened by both the virus and climate change? In many speeches, aeronautics is referred to as an offering of good quality, chosen for its representativeness, as in the time of human sacrifices. Publications abound that only develop the theoretical contribution of air transport to forcing the temperature of the globe through its carbon dioxide emissions: their leitmotiv is the “decarbonization” of aeronautics. These publications come from both professional specialists and younger students. How do you get through this? Sacrificed as a caterpillar, can aeronautics be reborn as a butterfly?