3 ms·

Would you swap your plane ticket for a seat on a zeppelin?

2 points by ironyman 1y ago

ironyman 1y ago
paywall: https://archive.is/wip/JtAFW https://archive.is/wip/JtAFW
PaulHoule 1y ago
Trouble is capital cost. If it takes the thing 5 days to cross the Atlantic when a jet can do it in one, you multiply the capital cost by 5.
mytailorisrich 1y ago
Depending on price they might find a niche for short-ish distance travels to, e.g. near-shore islands currently only reachable by ferry. Although for freight you can just load a ruck on a ferry whereas with those you need to load/unload.
- jgwil2 1y ago
  Another niche could be replacing sight-seeing helicopter trips, especially with all the safety issues the latter seem to be having.
eesmith 1y ago
I've been reading essentially the same proposals and arguments for a zeppelin revival since I was a teenager in the 1980s reading Popular Mechanics. If we tax carbon to the point where zeppelins become anywhere near cost competitive with jets then I expect we'll see more passenger and cargo ships using sail. Which is, ahem, another perennial Popular Mechanics topic, like (2020) "This Wind-Powered Super Sailboat Will Carry 7,000 Cars Across the Atlantic" - https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a34272175/wind-powered-sailboat-cargo-shipping-future/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a34272175/wi... To be sure, there are modern sail cargo ships. The Grain de Sail carries coffee and chocolate, for example, as does the TransOceanic Wind Transport (for the latter, https://www.fastcompany.com/91185144/the-worlds-largest-wind-powered-cargo-ship-just-made-its-first-delivery-across-the-atlantic https://www.fastcompany.com/91185144/the-worlds-largest-wind... ). But as I recall, the carbon problem with slow passenger travel is that people tend to want things like hot showers, which airships/sailboats heat using fossil fuels, and the people who can afford to travel by ship tend to want a lot of creature comforts, and the staff to provide them. Who will pay $10,000 for an 8 day sailing across the Atlantic with a small cabin, reheated frozen foods, and 12 liters of water allocated daily for a "Navy shower"?
JohnFen 1y ago
Not if I have to go through the same sort of security as I have to go through to get on a plane. If taking the trip is going to suck anyway, better to make it as short of a trip as possible.

2 points by ironyman 1y ago

paywall: https://archive.is/wip/JtAFW https://archive.is/wip/JtAFW

Trouble is capital cost. If it takes the thing 5 days to cross the Atlantic when a jet can do it in one, you multiply the capital cost by 5.

mytailorisrich 1y ago

Depending on price they might find a niche for short-ish distance travels to, e.g. near-shore islands currently only reachable by ferry. Although for freight you can just load a ruck on a ferry whereas with those you need to load/unload.

jgwil2 1y ago
Another niche could be replacing sight-seeing helicopter trips, especially with all the safety issues the latter seem to be having.

eesmith 1y ago

I've been reading essentially the same proposals and arguments for a zeppelin revival since I was a teenager in the 1980s reading Popular Mechanics. If we tax carbon to the point where zeppelins become anywhere near cost competitive with jets then I expect we'll see more passenger and cargo ships using sail. Which is, ahem, another perennial Popular Mechanics topic, like (2020) "This Wind-Powered Super Sailboat Will Carry 7,000 Cars Across the Atlantic" - https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a34272175/wind-powered-sailboat-cargo-shipping-future/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a34272175/wi... To be sure, there are modern sail cargo ships. The Grain de Sail carries coffee and chocolate, for example, as does the TransOceanic Wind Transport (for the latter, https://www.fastcompany.com/91185144/the-worlds-largest-wind-powered-cargo-ship-just-made-its-first-delivery-across-the-atlantic https://www.fastcompany.com/91185144/the-worlds-largest-wind... ). But as I recall, the carbon problem with slow passenger travel is that people tend to want things like hot showers, which airships/sailboats heat using fossil fuels, and the people who can afford to travel by ship tend to want a lot of creature comforts, and the staff to provide them. Who will pay $10,000 for an 8 day sailing across the Atlantic with a small cabin, reheated frozen foods, and 12 liters of water allocated daily for a "Navy shower"?

JohnFen 1y ago

Not if I have to go through the same sort of security as I have to go through to get on a plane. If taking the trip is going to suck anyway, better to make it as short of a trip as possible.