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How Climate Change is Reviving Interest in Airships
Context:
With the growing urgency of addressing climate change, airships are making a comeback as a potential solution for cargo transportation, thanks to their low carbon footprint and the rise of innovative technologies aimed at overcoming previous limitations.
How Airships Work:
- Lighter-than-air Aircraft: Airships are powered by gases like helium or hydrogen, which are lighter than the surrounding atmosphere.
- Lifting Gas: Originally, hydrogen was used due to its lightness and affordability, but its flammability (e.g., the Hindenburg disaster) led to the switch to helium, a non-combustible gas, though it is expensive and scarce.
- Helium Cost: $35 per cubic meter of helium is required to lift 1 kilogram of weight, making it a costly resource.
The Varying Buoyancy Challenge:
- Cargo Transport Limitations: While airships are energy-efficient and have an excellent lift-to-drag ratio, they struggle with varying buoyancy—the need to adjust for weight changes during loading and unloading.
- Helium Refill Problem: A potential solution is releasing and refilling lifting gas, but the scarcity and cost of helium prevent this approach from being viable.
Promising Solutions:
- Ballast Systems: Using ballast or added weights is a proposed solution to adjust buoyancy, similar to how hot air balloons and submarines work.
- Flying Whales: The French company has developed the LCA60T, a 200-meter-long helium airship designed to carry heavy loads like rocket sections or turbine blades. The airship can pick up water ballast mid-flight to adjust its buoyancy.
- Aeros: This Los Angeles-based company has developed airships for advertising and surveillance and is exploring the idea of floating warehouses to support e-commerce drone deliveries.
Environmental Benefits and Potential:
- Lower Carbon Footprint: Unlike airplanes, airships do not burn fossil fuels to achieve lift, making them a more sustainable option for cargo transport.
- Reachability: Airships can access areas where ships or trucks may not be able to, making them a valuable tool for remote or underserved regions.
