Yes, but for passenger service rather than cargo. Passenger jets are too fast, too uncomfortable, and cause too much pollution.
Passenger jets are too fast
People complain about that? If they were too fast - impossible concept - then I wouldn’t complain. After the first two hours I don’t need to see the empty sky so much, and judging by the video panel use I’m not in the minority thinking so. If it became faster to get between the biggest 10 airports in the world, because of some super passenger rocket, then I’d be all for it. Even the best flight home from NZ is 16 hours I can’t ever get back; and even the best flight is still a horrible time stuck in a tube with a few hundred people I don’t want to know by smell.
Airlines are too fast in several senses. First, people don’t usually need to get somewhere as quickly as an airline allows. Someone who is really on urgent business can use telepresence or a charter instead. Second, the airports on either end of a trip are frequently too slow, making airlines and example of “hurry up and wait”. Third, airlines move people through timezones very quickly, exacerbating jet lag.
I agree with you that airlines are too uncomfortable even for their speed to overcome. Slow travel can be much more comfortable. For example, many people are willing to spend days on trains and cruise ships.
Because I think it’s bad economics to try to transport finished goods over long distances quickly. It’s better to transport raw materials long distances slowly (ship and rail) and employ people to manufacture things near where they are needed.
What’s the advantage to transporting raw materials as opposed to finished goods? You’re giving up economies of scale and support infrastructure, I’m not clear what you are getting in return.
Very comprehensive video.
H2 is by far the best gas choice, and part of H2 economy.
airships are also a great vehicle to transport H2 as needed without pipeline permitting. Providing green energy resilience to anywhere. They are faster than trucks for distance cargo.
Designs that include wing based lift are a winner. Aircraft attitude can be changed by compressing to/from back/front of airship, and management of cargo/ballast/pull force on ropes is made easier.
They mentioned using compressors for ballast. Having center rigid sections able to hold H2 or air or vacuum can be used to move H2 out of the center before landing, and then replace cargo with air for ground/rope attachment stability.
Another airship application is replacement of yachts. There is very little weight variation from residents and “groceries” being inside vs out. There is massive solar production capable surface that can generate H2 fuel for power, and then get water back from consuming the fuel in fuel cells. 20ft fiberglass trailers weight 1mt. 900 m^3 of H2. 1500 m^3 for people + baggage. 2500 m^3 for solar + fuel cells + electrolyzers + prop engines. 25m long airship with 1m extra length for each extra ft of “furnished cabin+luggage space”.
Another airship application is replacement of yachts.
I think we have enough of those. In fact, we need less, both water and air yachts.
Something that happens with self driving cars is that you can live in your car without having to park it anywhere. Airships hovering is a similar “freedom”.
That makes sense to me - the word yacht might be implying too much a certain use case (it’s the name of a class of vessel but I think it also says ‘rich people toy’ on first impression). But house boats have been around for a long time and when they’re someone’s primary residence they sometimes represent a cheaper model of living, not unlike a mobile home. An airship houseboat is an interesting idea, I think it showed up at the end of Cory Doctorow’s Walkaway.
I like your math here. You should bring this up with !hydrogen@fedia.io , the largest Mbin magazine. Somehow nobody on slrpnk.net subscribes to them, so they’re not that well federated. While they mostly focus on H2 power, I agree that hydrogen should return as a lifting gas for airships.
Yes.
That is all.
As a deaf person, very much appreciate the video is subtitled. Thank you for sharing, I will watch later.
I agree, if we can build colossal cargo airships, they can move things overseas more efficiently than any other mode of transport. I wouldn’t stop there, though.
I see the sky as a vast frontier of unrealized potential, and hydrogen airships are the most realistic way to get up there and experiment. Save the helium for MRI machines and other industries that need it more. I want to see us carry rockets to the upper atmosphere where they can launch with far less drag. How light can we make solar panels for the tops of airship envelopes? Let’s get some artsy steampunk airships made, too.
I know plenty of people like myself who would pay just to ride on an airship for fun. Paid airship flights exist in Florida and it’s just a matter of time before other scenic skies become tourist destinations. Someday, I want a cheap dirigible of my own, with the hangar to store it, even if I can’t fly it over the tops of thunderstorms like an airline would.
I admit I’m kind of an outlier. I love things that float in the air and I basically dominate the #balloons tag on Mbin and Lemmy.
