Following a lively trend in private jets and in full harmony with the needs of the world, the President of the United States has taken his first ride in the lithium-powered prototype Air Force One (AF-1). “There is nothing more personally discouraging to me as president than to see private jets poison the world with greenhouse gases. It was painful to declare that private jets would have to become battery-powered, but we have proven that it can be done.”
The President said that he would no longer be taking air trips to Asia. He will travel by train to Anchorage and then make the short flight to Magadan, where he will then take the Trans-Siberian railway to Moscow or the Belt and Road Railway to Beijing. “I’ve been used to traveling with appropriate staff and about eight national reporters, but now there will be three of us in the airplane. We have been used to traveling 10,000 miles, but that range has been reduced to 450 miles, provided we have a tailwind and fly at low altitudes.”
When he became president, Joe Biden made Acela’s Metroliner famous as he had commuted from his Delaware home to Washington, D.C. for his 36 years in the Senate. Biden began the 90-minute daily commute in early 1973 to be home every night for his two young sons, Hunter and Beau, after his wife died in an accident that also injured his sons.
The move to lithium for AF-1, admittedly a strong statement, was a response to industries’ serious efforts to combat climate change with a high degree of appropriate seriousness.
▪ The rail industry is admirably experimenting with eleven-car lithium-powered trains though they would have to be shorter in the Rockies and Cascades. Adding solar panels to freight cars will help in the future.
▪ The shipping industry successfully went lithium by using lithium-powered tug boats to propel most ships, including some oil tankers and luxury cruise liners, until their onboard solar-powered batteries could take over.
▪ It was, however, Congress that assured that the trucking industry would not need to use lithium-powered trucks until private jets flew on lithium fuel. The previous president said, “That’s the last straw; AF-1 gets lithium.”
**“We were delighted** that, in 2027, quantum power core self-regenerating lithium batteries will become available beyond small devices. That means that those AF-1 batteries will not need to connect to the grid to be charged. Leaving the batteries out in the noonday sun will be adequate,” the President remarked.
The NSF said that the day will soon come when airplanes will be able to charge their lithium batteries while flying. Solar panels in the airplanes’ body and wings will provide enough power to allow planes like AF1 to travel 900 miles before recharging the lithium batteries. Aerodynamics will not be harmed more than 2%.
Meanwhile, the auto industry is reeling from California’s just-passed law eliminating the personal ownership of all automobiles, except historic ones. “This will take time to get used to, but all rides will become ride-share rides. This change will eliminate the need for parking garages, which occupy about 14% of all downtown areas.”
Nearly all current home, condo, and apartment garages will be repurposed in the biggest change to housing since the elimination of the horse barn and outhouse. Many expressed surprise at this idea, not realizing that while traffic volume will barely change, parking needs will evaporate. The number of parking spaces needed for ride-sharing vehicles is estimated at about 20% of the current garage space. California’s ban takes effect in 2028.
Bicycles and golf carts are expected to replace cars for short trips. Bikes, now called velos, will get lithium assist, and the golf carts, now called homers (or roadies), will be better weatherproofed with space for groceries, packages, and small children rather than golf clubs.
The President has expressed pleasure that while AF-1 will be a lithium plane, Congress, and other travelers deemed essential to the proper functioning of the government, will still be able to use jet-fueled planes for essential business and travel to their constituencies.
