The common approach to reduce flying's climate impact—taxing fuel—disproportionately harms lower-income individuals. A more progressive and technologically optimistic solution is to invent cheaper, carbon-neutral jet fuel, expanding access to the 'privilege' of flight for everyone, not just the wealthy.

Tech billionaire Bill Gates supports a radical concept called solar radiation management: releasing aerosols to reflect sunlight and cool the planet. This moves the idea of a "sun visor for Earth" from science fiction to a seriously considered, albeit controversial, last-resort solution for climate tipping points.

The concept of solar geoengineering originated from a 2006 proposal by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen. He foresaw that reducing health-harming sulfur pollution would eliminate its planet-cooling side effect and suggested intentionally placing reflective particles high in the atmosphere to replicate the cooling with fewer health risks.

The same core benefit—fuel efficiency—is framed differently for its two key markets. For airlines, it's about reducing operational costs. For the Air Force, it's a strategic advantage, enabling longer missions and greater payload, effectively increasing global reach and dominance.

The model of pressuring tech companies to go green doesn't apply to major industrial emitters like oil and steel. For them, the cost of eliminating emissions can be several times their annual profit, a cost no shareholder base would voluntarily accept.

The most effective path to widespread societal deployment is not individual sales but incorporating clean air standards into building codes. If regulations mandate a certain level of infection prevention, FAR-UVC becomes the cheapest and easiest way to comply, making it a default feature in new construction and renovations.

Efforts to reduce air pollution, particularly sulfur emissions from shipping and industry, have had the unintended consequence of speeding up global warming. These pollutants created reflective aerosol particles that cooled the planet. Removing them, while beneficial for health, has made Earth absorb more solar energy.

Instead of focusing on marginal emissions cuts, companies should leverage their unique capabilities to solve hard problems. This means acting as early buyers for new green technologies or investing in R&D within their supply chains, creating new markets for the entire industry.

The climate warming effect of aeroplane contrails is highly concentrated. Researchers estimate that rerouting just 2-5% of flights to avoid specific atmospheric conditions could eliminate up to 80% of the warming damage. This makes contrail mitigation a highly targeted and potentially cost-effective climate solution.