3 ms·
Airships have a use case for bulk cargo, so it will displace some trucks.
by kiba 7y ago
Airships have a use case for bulk cargo, so it will displace some trucks.
- moneytide1 7y agoMakes sense to use slower, low energy freight instead of deliverin cargo ASAP only for it to sit idle in warehouses afterwards. All that speed with the emission penalty is wasteful as the article describes. Barges are cheap and slow too but going down river and letting consistent currents do the heavy lifting with a certain regimented cargo means haste becomes irrelevant. Going against the current (or wind) then generates the energy penalty, especially with returning freight.
- ppf 7y agoA back-of-the-envelope calculation tells me that the efficiency of a powered airship is about the same as modern airplanes. Switching truck freight to airships would use an order of magnitude more fuel.
- AstralStorm 7y agoHigher, as long as the airship for not have to go fast and can use air currents mostly like any old balloon. It can go almost arbitrarily slow, as long as the weather is good and there is no time pressure. The main efficiency losses in airplanes are wind resistance and takeoff/landing... An airplane cannot go arbitrarily slow or it loses lift. According to industry sources, airships are about 80% more efficient. Plus as fuel space efficiency and weight is less of a problem, they can use different fuel sources for the engines, including methane or hydrogen, and electric engines too.