Here is a question for all you busy executives, deal makers and time-starved travellers. If you could save three hours flying from London to New York on a supersonic jet, but knew your journey would generate two to eight times the carbon of a flight on a conventional aircraft, would you do it?Two weeks ago, American Airlines put down an undisclosed deposit for 20 supersonic aircraft being developed by Colorado start-up Boom. Blake Scholl, Boom’s founder, believes there are enough of you out there to fill “hundreds if not thousands of these aeroplanes”. I am not so sure.
Twenty years ago, when Concorde was guzzling twice the fuel of a 747 jumbo to carry a quarter of the passengers, companies did not have to measure their carbon footprints. Today, they are under pressure from investors, regulators and customers to reduce the climate impact of doing business.
Even assuming that Boom overcomes the noise problem, supersonic travel will be one of the least green and most expensive options for air passengers.