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# Group read, energy, week 4. Will solar energy let us fly to the sun in winter?
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/group-read-energy-week-4-will-solar-energy-let-us-fly-to-the-sun-in-winter/
- Published: 2009-02-07T05:02:01.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T23:00:14.000Z
- Author: Tony Curzon Price
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 19:57

**Feb 7 2009\. Join the Group Read. Chapters 5 and 6\. Flight and Solar**

(Instructions on how to join are [at the bottom of the original post](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/economics/energy-without-hot-air-group-read))

Will solar energy technologies allow us to sustainably take those long-haul flights to get our winter dose of sunshine? On the way, we discover that flying intecontinentally once per year has an energy cost slightly bigger than leaving a 1 kW electric fire on, non-stop, 24 hours a day, all year, despite the fact that modern planes are twice as fuel-efficient as a single-occupancy car. It may be no surprise, therefore, that Airline businessman Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, has developed a Swiftian the solution to the problem: " The best thing we can do with environmentalists is shoot them."

Just like to repeat a big thank you to **David MacKay** who has been very supportive of this project, and to **William Sigmund** without whose amazing html and perl skills I do not think we would have had an online version to work with.