How would that be possible? Their idea is to fly in the less turbulent stratosphere and make the most out of the jet stream, which is an air current that circles the globe from west to east reaching up to 140 mph. 14 Researchers said the airships would require less energy and time to deliver the fuel than oceangoing cargo ships.

So, how come airships are rising back into the sky again after that bumpy ride? Some scientists are suggesting hydrogen-filled balloons as a more sustainable alternative for transporting the gas compared to maritime cargo shipping. In today’s money, that would translate to around $8,200. While it would shave 2 days off your Atlantic crossing, the trip would have cost you 5.5 times more than a third class ticket on an ocean liner. In addition to being in the wrong place at the wrong time on the Hindenburg, you would’ve also spent a fortune on the trip. 12 But safety wasn’t the only reason why airships floated away as a from of travel. At the end of one of its transatlantic cruises, the Hindenburg caught fire while landing in New Jersey and killed 36 people. But given the flammability of hydrogen, that wasn’t the best choice. Because of the US export restrictions imposed on the Nazi regime, German designers used hydrogen instead of helium as the filling gas. With its 804-foot length, the German zeppelin was the largest dirigible ever constructed at that time. As bad as that was, airships fate was sealed in 1937, when the Hindenburg went down like a lead balloon. 11 The dirigible lost control and dove into the North Sea before splitting in two, killing 14 people. But a storm was brewing on the horizon, like the one Zeppelin LZ 14 flew into in 1913. Much more relaxing than jolting up and down in a cramped plane. Zeppelins became very popular for their travel comfort. He designed the first rigid motorized dirigible at the end of the 19th century, giving his name to the ancestor of modern airships. But when did airships take off? Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was the pioneer who led the way to rigid airships as we know it. The last category, which includes blimps, rely on the pressure of the gas filling the balloon to keep their shape, while the other two types of machines are supported by an internal framework. These vehicles can be rigid, semi-rigid or non-rigid. While something like a hot-air balloon goes with the wind, airships have engines to ensure maneuverability. Lighter-than-air (LTA) 10 vehicles fly through the sky like hot-air balloons, using LTA gases such as helium or hydrogen. Unlocking the Future of Electric Vehicles Sounds uplifting … but before delving into the tech feasibility, let’s jump onboard our DeLorean balloon to fly back in time to where airships came from. This could translate into smaller sites located closer to cities, saving people from long commutes to airports, but the airship flexibility would be extremely beneficial for delivering food and humanitarian aid to isolated areas. One big benefit is that airships don’t require special infrastructure since flying boats don’t need a runaway for taking off and landing. Because of its shape, the Airlander 10 has been nicknamed “the flying buttocks” 9 … thankfully the only gas inside this bad boy is helium … but airships could do more than just make us feel less guilty about a return flight on the weekend. 8 By 2025, you may be able to hop onboard their Airlander 10 and get dropped off a couple of hundred miles away. 5, 6 So, what do we do? A UK company, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) 7, is launching a short-range airship service that will water down the carbon emissions of flight by 90%. 4 With the GHG emissions of the hydrocarbons-guzzling aircraft engines expected to increase more than 4 times by 2045, flying could reach 25% of the global carbon budget by 2050. 3 Although aviation currently accounts for only 2% of the global carbon footprint, its impact is taking off pretty fast. Flying less is the most impactful action you can take to bring down your CO2 quota. When it comes to our individual carbon footprint, air travel is the emission-spewing Dumbo in the room. What if we could get the speed of air travel with the lower emissions of ground-travel? Enter the airship. 1 We could go back to trains for our traveling, which produce about half the CO2 of a plane, 2 but you don’t always have the time. Just one short-haul flight a year produces 10% of our individual carbon emissions.

Pathological fear of airships