The Begining of the End of Commerical Aviation?

This BBC story on environmental threats from aviation got me thinking about the future of flight.

I am begining to think that large numbers of commercial jets operating on fossil fuels cannot be sustained more than three decades as a primary transportation network, through a combination of environmental costs in warming, which are rapidly becoming visible, security risks, urban space opportunity costs, and probable economic unsustainability as petroleum is depleted.

So I'm wondering what the future is. Nuclear aircraft seems unlikely - is there a way for fuel cells to power aircraft economically (I'm imagining electric high efficiency props) ? I like the thought in the article about superfast rail for journeys under 400 miles (think of the massive subsidies going to support aviation, particularly when you think of opportunity costs). It really has every advantage, particularly in point to point delivery times; fast rail would get you from city center to city center. A related thought is that wise or not I'm betting on a return to nuclear fission as a primary electrical power generator - whether we have the fuel or not, global warming's effects are going to force rather panicky energy decisions.)

In the short run, I think this bodes well for Boeing's 7E7, which is efficient, rather than the big Airbus, which is, well, big.

So the future, I think, is a bit slower, more specialized. The huge growth in cruise ships might actually position a return to shipping as a saleable alternative for transoceanic journeys, particularly if they are big floating destination malls, which they are. If it gets back to a four day Atlantic crossing as opposed to a day flight, why not? And far, far, far cheaper in fuel. My business model? The journey is free - as long as you shop, rooms at hotel rates.

That old fascist Lindbergh, who evolved into an environmentalist, a racist one, but whatever, once said that he had to ask himself whether he ultimately wanted a world with aircraft, or a world with birds. And he realized that the answer was birds.

Thoughts? Which reminds me, I've got a free flight on Alaska coming up....