News from the National Air Traffic Control Company that Britain’s biggest airspace shake-up will not see any reduction in carbon dioxide emissions will disappoint environmentalists.
The company also propose to accommodate 100m more airline passengers a year by 2014- an increase which strengthens the environmental case for airship technology.
On the plus side, airships give off very little noise and have no need for landing strips- a versatility which could also assist in aid delivery to remote places. They are much less polluting – using helium to give lift and electricity to power thrust. There’s potential for solar power in the future.
Gordon Taylor, marketing director for Hybrid Air Vehicles, which designs airships and operates out of aircraft hangar in Bedfordshire, thinks we could get to zero emission within 10 years. “There is commercial viability but we would need someone like Richard Branson to stamp his feet and start a commercial operation. Or Zac Goldsmith.” He says.
At the moment the company is focusing on heavy lift airships. There’s big interest from Canada, which is concerned about global warming issues and also has a large resource base- oil, wood- which it exports. It’s perhaps testament to commercial potential that the company is currently in a legal dispute with the US-based company Lockheed-Martin over design rights.
On the downside, airships remain overshadowed by the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, in which a German-built LZ 129 zeppelin went up in flames after a transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Lakehurst in the US. Thirty-six people died and the idea of airships dropped like a lead balloon.
They haven’t captured the popular imagination since, and with speeds of up to around 100mph you might need to allow a bit more time for your journey.
But airship technology has come a long way in 70 years. Helium, an inert gas, has replaced the hydrogen that many blame for setting the Hindenburg zeppelin alight.
Current commercial passenger flights are reserved for sightseeing tours. With a growing need and desire for green travel and with more people willing to sacrifice time for less footprint, airships could prove valuable.
