The economics of airships

August 09, 2013

A recent conference in Anchorage examined various aspects of using airships in northern operations.

Professor Barry Prentice presented a paper on the Economic Uses for Airships. He suggested three categories:

• 1 to 10 tons lift could be used for Surveillance, SAR and security missions, Advertising and photography, Aerial research platforms and Tourism
• 10 to 50 tons lift could be used for freight transport (short haul)
• 100 tons lift could be used for freight transport (medium – long haul)

The cost of all weather roads in permafrost/arctic areas can exceed $3M per kilometer. For freight hauling Prof. Prentice concludes that airships are more competitive versus trucks the longer the road, the shorter the duration of the mine and the lower the volume of traffic.

Even when airships do not compete long-term they could find a short run market for road construction to the mine and initial development while the road is built. Further Prentice argues that airships ensures mines are not burdened with a “road mortgage” when metal prices decline. Airships could enable pockets of minerals to be extracted profitably. 

Grant Carichner, in his presentation, outlined the key features of hybrid airships:

• Generates significant aerodynamic lift during takeoff and landing. They have airplane-like easily modulates lift during flight. They transport much more cargo. They often use lobes to create aerodynamically efficient shapes. They create direct lift / vectored thrust by adding wings to the buoyant body.
• New envelope materials are 20X stronger than older materials.
• Hybrids are faster than trucks, trains, or sealift and have unique operational flexibility. Hybrids carry more payload because they generate large amounts of lift

Commentary

The makers of airships are making great strides in technology. The performance of hybrid airships in particular is becoming better and better. Northern projects are well suited to trying out airships given their remoteness, high cost and the cyclical nature of commodity booms and busts.

Sources

• a)Barry Prentice, "Review of Northern Cargo Airship Markets" 10-Jul-2013, presentation can be found at http://event.arc.nasa.gov/airships/sites/default/files/presentations/2013/BarryPrentice.pdf



• b)http://event.arc.nasa.gov/airships/2013-agenda



• c)http://event.arc.nasa.gov/airships/sites/default/files/presentations/2013/GrantCarichner.pdf