Today with the growing awareness and concern about our environment, you will find green or sustainable options everywhere. In this context, our aviation industry is also not lagging far behind. Green airships have made their entry. Thanks to some of our new entrepreneurs who have come up with this noble idea. These are nothing but some super cool airships which run on clean energy. These air crafts are proposed to be used as a means of air cargo transport and will target remote areas of Africa, Northern Canada which always remains frozen, western frontier of China, Asia and South America. They can be used to carry a variety of goods starting from food to heavy industrial equipment.
Different companies are currently working on this concept and have come up with some really great idea. Here is s a list of some futuristic airships designed to run on clean energy for the protection of our environment.
1. HAV’s Futuristic Airship
Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British airship manufacturing company is planning to produce some futuristic airships for the Canadian company Discovery Air. These airships will be used to transport cargo to different areas of northwest of Canada which remain in accessible by road during the winters.
The estimated cost of these 50 ton giants is around $40 million. According to Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), these huge airships will fly at a speed of 185 km/h. A mixture of non-flammable helium and air power will be used as its fuel.
2. Nephilios
The Nephilios is a solar-powered airship which has the capacity to cross the English Channel in approximately 1 hour. It is a part of the Projet Sol’r which is a project undertaken by many technical schools and universities in France.
3. Skylifter
The Australian company called Skylifter has come up with some heavy weight lifting airships which have a proposed capacity of lifting up to 150,000 kg of weight. It can carry goods of any shape, to any location and can traverse to any distance. This environment friendly sustainable airship is stronger than a helicopter and does not create much noise.
These airships are so huge (about 500 ft across) that the company hopes that the vehicles will one day be able to carry rural hospitals and even disaster-relief centers to remote inaccessible areas of the world.
These airships are disc-shaped and hence it is easier to steer and it also has the capacity to withstand harsh weathers and the different conditions of the wind.
4. Manned Cloud
The whale-shaped airship called Manned Cloud is a proposed flying hotel designed by Jean-Marie Massaud of France. It has the capacity to fit in 40 guests and 15 staff members and has been developed by ONERA which is a body of the French national aerospace research. The Airship has a range of 5,000 km.
The Manned Cloud can move at an average speed of 130 km/h and an increased top speed of 170 km/h. It features a double-decked cabin with a restaurant, spa and a fitness suite.
This marvelous green airship will give you the opportunity to live in the sky and can be used for traveling to some unexplored areas of this earth.
5. Argus One
The Advanced Technologies Group of Cardington, Bedfordshire, UK has come up some futuristic sustainable air vehicles called the SkyCat hybrid. These airships are made with the help of some latest technologies which are today used in the aviation industry. The SkyCat uses air-cushioned hovercraft technology and the lighter-than-air airship technology. These airships are available in three different variants – the SkyCat 20, the SkyCat 200 and the SkyCat 1000. They have payload capacities in the range of 20,000 to 1,000,000 kg.
These vehicles are truly amphibious in nature and can land on flat land, swamp, snow, grass and even on water. This is due to its air cushion landing system. It can also land without the help of any ground crew and ground landing infrastructure.
The SkyCat has an ellipsoidal-shaped cross-section hull and a catamaran-hover-cushion system and an advanced lifting body. It can operate at a maximum altitude of 2,745 m.
The SkyCat can function as a passenger aircraft, a very heavy cargo ship and even as an air-borne surveillance platform. It features some military applications like a tactical and strategic air lift, computers and information platform, a command, control, mine countermeasures, anti-surface warfare and air-borne early warning.