Planes of the future will likely be virtual (decomposed water) hydrogen powered rockets, that take off (perhaps nearly straight up) with assistance from electric rail guns. They might even include ion drives in the nose cones to reduce friction?

And like the old space shuttles they'll likely glide the to a landing from great height? Keeping a small reserve of fuel for braking and what have you?

And given recent innovation much of our air travel could be replaced by speed of sound transport loops which rely on magnetically opposed levitation (electromagnets) and forward by electric rail guns.

Some air travel could be replaced by nuclear powered subs, the spacecraft of the sea. 50 knots cruising speeds and an armchair ride very conceivable! Particularly as short hauls that link rapid rail?

Driverless cars and buses will likely feature, as will zero till and tram track cultivation, which will allow electrically powered tractors and harvesters to be continually be recharged on the go, by buried magnetic interfaces, which might also apply to various forms of largely autonomous public transport.

Moreover, and should it become practical some power could be transmitted in a wireless mode by microwave dishes.

Even so we have an option of using inboard gas powered ceramic cells, which produce mostly pristine water vapor as the exhaust product; that would be equally happy running on natural gas (lighter than air methane) or scrubbed endlessly sustainable biogas, (methane) which by the way, is currently powering most of one Scandinavian city's taxi fleet, from the waste produced by a legendary dairy herd? And hydrogen used to be produced using the water molecule cracking method.

And significantly less volatile than commonplace hydrocarbon cracking, which could make solar thermal produced, endlessly sustainable liquid hydrogen, the cheapest portable fuel in the world? and probably only a question of time before science finds a way (Magnetic bottle?) to combine it with atmospheric carbon to produce endlessly sustainable, very low cost, uncompressed portable liquid fuel?
Alan B.

Fail.
Ignored completely the rise of pollution that corresponds exactly with your so called progress.
Totally misrepresents modern power generation as the same as windmills and waterwheels.
Laughably conflates "the dawn of time" with human existence.
Admits we are actually changing the climate with "warm, moist, carbon-rich atmosphere".
But then denies the harmful aspects. As if co2 only makes plants grow faster.
The sort of simplistic, childlike yarn beloved by country folk with their disdain of booklearnin and them clever city folk.
Theres only one denier zealot here mate.

Unsurprising article from Viv Forbes - Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition, which was created to “defend the role of carbon on earth and in the atmosphere”

Forbes says 'there has been NO increase in temperature since 1998.'
“Carbon dioxide plays a wholly beneficial role in the atmosphere, and there is no evidence that this would change should carbon dioxide levels rise."

Check out his coal lobby history at http://www.desmogblog.com/viv-forbes

Wow. A geologist that thinks climate change is bunk. Surprise surprise! For some reason this profession thinks they know better than climate scientists. Could it be they rely on big oil and king coal for jobs? Ian Plimer's "Heaven and Earth" is full of science-fiction. But this guy doesn't even say why he disagrees with climate change and just re-spins the boring tax conspiracy narrative.

Here's the real news. WE DO NOT NEED COAL, OIL, OR GAS, and we don't have to make up fantasies about relying on wind or solar either. Molten Salt Reactors fission thorium into uranium into energy. First, they *cannot* melt down as they are already a liquid. Second, if the fuel overheats it expands and the atoms move apart, reducing fission and cooling the reactor: it is self limiting and self-cooling. Third, a Molten Salt Reactor requires power to hold the liquid fuel up in the reactor. If the power fails, the liquid salt drains out of the reactor into a safety tank that sheds heat. Gravity requires no backup generators, no power, and no people. A power failure means total shut down: every time.

Now, what if someone shoots a missile into it? The hot liquid salt dries into a solid at 450 degrees C! That's still very hot, but already a solid! Even if terrorists shot a missile into it, the salt crystals form almost instantly and fall to earth locally rather than spreading across the continent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_fluoride_thorium_reactor#Safety

Banning modern nuclear power plants because of Chernobyl or Fukushima is worse than banning modern aviation because of the Hindenburg. There are so many new passive safety systems that it is hard to list them. Molten Salt Reactors could burn thorium for billions of years. If we cannot invent fusion, Molten Salt Reactors are already here. Watch this 2 hour documentary (that starts with a rather choppy 5 minute summary, and then slows down to unpack it all). Spread the word. MSR's could be built within a few years if fusion fails. We have a backup plan!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9M__yYbsZ4