electric
Original: electric on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Man with flame-like orange hair: HAVE YOU READ ABOUT ELECTRIC AVIATION? IT SOUNDS REALLY COOL. AVIATION IS A HUGE PART OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
Woman with glasses: NEVER GONNA WORK.
Panel 2:
Man with orange hair: THE AMOUNT OF R&D NEEDED TO GET AN ALL-ELECTRIC 737 IS ENORMOUS. WE DON'T HAVE BATTERIES WITH ENOUGH ENERGY DENSITY, AND EVEN IF WE DID, THEY'D BE DANGEROUS.
Panel 3:
Man with orange hair: IF YOU COULD BEAM POWER, YOU COULD LAUNCH WITH ALMOST NO BATTERIES, DRASTICALLY LOWERING FUEL COSTS.
Woman with glasses: THAT SEEMS UNLIKELY.
Panel 4:
Man with orange hair: IT WOULD NECESSITATE A GLOBAL NETWORK OF POWER-BEAMING MEGA-BLIMPS.
Man with orange hair: AND WE MUST HAVE IT, NO MATTER THE COST.
Votey:
Man with orange hair: WE CAN USE THE LASER-BLIMPS TO KILL PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT LASER-BLIMPS ARE INEFFICIENT.
Man with flame-like orange hair: HAVE YOU READ ABOUT ELECTRIC AVIATION? IT SOUNDS REALLY COOL. AVIATION IS A HUGE PART OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
Woman with glasses: NEVER GONNA WORK.
Panel 2:
Man with orange hair: THE AMOUNT OF R&D NEEDED TO GET AN ALL-ELECTRIC 737 IS ENORMOUS. WE DON'T HAVE BATTERIES WITH ENOUGH ENERGY DENSITY, AND EVEN IF WE DID, THEY'D BE DANGEROUS.
Panel 3:
Man with orange hair: IF YOU COULD BEAM POWER, YOU COULD LAUNCH WITH ALMOST NO BATTERIES, DRASTICALLY LOWERING FUEL COSTS.
Woman with glasses: THAT SEEMS UNLIKELY.
Panel 4:
Man with orange hair: IT WOULD NECESSITATE A GLOBAL NETWORK OF POWER-BEAMING MEGA-BLIMPS.
Man with orange hair: AND WE MUST HAVE IT, NO MATTER THE COST.
Votey:
Man with orange hair: WE CAN USE THE LASER-BLIMPS TO KILL PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT LASER-BLIMPS ARE INEFFICIENT.
Alt text
A four-panel comic. A man with messy orange flame-like hair enthusiastically pitches electric aviation to a skeptical woman with glasses. He says aviation is a huge part of greenhouse gas emissions; she flatly replies "Never gonna work." He explains an all-electric 737 would need enormous R&D and batteries we don't have, which would be dangerous. He pivots: if you could beam power, you could launch with almost no batteries and cut fuel costs; she says "That seems unlikely." In the final panel he excitedly declares this would require a global network of power-beaming mega-blimps — "And we must have it, no matter the cost." His idea has spiraled from a reasonable concern into an absurd grand scheme. Votey (aftercomic): a close-up of the man, now wide-eyed and unsettling, adding "We can use the laser-blimps to kill people who say that laser-blimps are inefficient."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.