Zeppelins Rise Again, The Upside of $200 Oil
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 5.08
Why Fly When You Can Float? It has been more than 70 years since the giant Hindenburg zeppelin exploded in a spectacular fireball over Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 crew members and passengers, abruptly ending an earlier age of airships. But because of new materials and sophisticated means of propulsion, a diverse cast of entrepreneurs is taking another look at the behemoths of the air. ::New York Times
See also Zeppelins are Back, Too
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The upside of $200 oil: Rising oil prices don't have to mean an economic apocalypse; it might reinvigorate our cities, and reward entrepreneurship. And it could make us a little skinnier, too. ::National Post
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I'm going to hope that these new zeps won't be filled with hydrogen... Call me old-fashioned, but I wouldn't feel particularly comfortable hanging underneath a giant bag of highly explosive gas.
I've been hearing about the immanent return of zeppelins since the early 70's. I don't know how many countless articles I've read in Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and other science & tech magazines about them. I'll believe it when I see it. I would love to see big airships return but even $200 a barrel doesn't make me think it's going to happen. We'll see a return to large sailing vessels first.
Bram, just don't paint the outside in thermite paint, and you should be fine.
Just about the only thing going up in price faster than gasoline is helium. Oh, the humanity.
Well Chris, I don't know about sailing ships, but I do expect we'll see nuclear merchant ships if the price of diesel stays high and goes higher. We built a few back in the 50's but at the time oil was cheaper. Not for long. And since we have plenty of experience, from the US Navy, how to do it safely, fielding a fleet of nuclear ships should prove no problem. We also have plenty of examples, particularly from Russia, about how not to handle nuclear technology.
"Just about the only thing going up in price faster than gasoline is helium."
Maybe, but airships don't use the helium as fuel for thrust, it's used for lowering their specific gravity.
"Maybe, but airships don't use the helium as fuel for thrust, it's used for lowering their specific gravity."
I know what it 's used for. It takes a vast amount to fill even one airship, and they are not sealed envelopes. They lose a lot of gas over the course of a year that needs to be replaced.
Here is an interesting article from 1938:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,758904,00.html
The Hindenberg was only filled with hydrogen because we shut off the supply of helium (which we controlled) to Germany.