Dirigibles are the future of cargo transport?

[jp1]

I'm not convinced, although the author does point to a number of scenarios where they would be better than how some (large) things are currently transported.

One thing the author didn't address is that hydrogen, being super small, is hard to contain. Would leakage of it offset any reduced greenhouse gas benefits that the usage of dirigibles would provide?

https://theweek.com/articles/824018/return-airship

[bae]

It's a very small effect, < 1% of the effect produced by the hydrocarbon fuels it replaces, if you look at sort of worst-case scenarios:

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...drogen_economy

[jp1]

It's a very small effect, < 1% of the effect produced by the hydrocarbon fuels it replaces, if you look at sort of worst-case scenarios:

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...drogen_economy

Thanks for the link. Maybe my memory is flawed but I remember reading back when W was pushing hydrogen fuel cell cars that containment methods for hydrogen, at least at affordable, mass production scale, were such that a tank of hydrogen in a car would be empty within a couple of weeks of non-use. Perhaps dirigibles have more promise than I thought.

[ToomuchStuff]

Where is there perfect weather? Big cargo ships, tend to do better in a storm then dirigibles. Look up our old aircraft carrier the Akron if you don't believe me.

[bicyclist]

Dirigibles are fascinating. Once in awhile, I have seen Blimps flying over Philadelphia to film an event. They appear to be enormous and capable of moving large objects. One question is "would dirigibles save a significant amount of energy over plans and helicopters? Incidentally, the Boeing Plant in suburban Philadelphia makes and refits heavy lift Chinook helicopters for the Military. They are not light on gas! Are trains and ships better for moving the biggest loads?

[frugalone]

Oh, the humanity.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist).