Is it war? Are the airlines out to "kill" or otherwise hobble business aviation, fractional ownership and jet charter? More to the point, could they pull it off?

For transportation, and particularly for air transport, the primary tool in combating global warming happens to be the same one prized by designers and manufacturers from the outset -- efficiency.

While aviation's more extreme critics claim that the worldwide industry has allegedly been lax in reducing its carbon impact on the atmosphere, engine and airframe manufacturers have quietly proceeded with development of a new generation of aircraft a quantum leap more efficient than state-of-the-art equipment.