Airships had its heyday at the turn of the century, but it came to an abrupt end with a severe accident in 1937. Then the hydrogen-filled airship Hindenburg exploded at Lakeheart in New York and shortly thereafter the ships were outcompeted by commercial aircraft.

Valuable cargo

Now scientists from Brazil, Germany and Malaysia are arguing that hydrogen-filled airships should once again be using the air, but for a whole new purpose. The hydrogen gas itself in the airship's balloon is instead the valuable cargo, according to a new study led by Julian Hunt at IIASA, an international research institute in Austria.

Stores energy

Hydrogen is an efficient way of storing energy from solar and wind production. The problem is that it takes a lot of energy to transport it. Hydrogen must be cooled down and converted to liquid form with high pressure.

However, if you do not convert hydrogen into liquid form, you save up to 30% of the energy produced. At the destination, hydrogen can then be used to power a fuel cell where the only exhaust gas becomes water.

explosion risk

The international research group also has a solution to the risk of explosion. Driverless airships and automated loading and unloading would reduce the risk of accidents. Airports are proposed to be located at remote locations and the airships would not be allowed to fly at low altitudes over cities.

Take too long

But not everyone is sure that it will work.

- The transport time with these airships will in most cases be too long to compete with air cargo. Some smaller niches may be created, but nothing that would significantly affect the transport sector's climate impact, says Jonas Åkerman, researcher on sustainable transport, KTH.

For airships to become a reality, there is a lot of political pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and we must see a transition to a hydrogen-based economy, according to Julian Hunt, the lead author of the study.

- Airships were in traffic for several decades. They are a real alternative. We just need the right initiative, ”says Julian Hunt.

The study is published in Energy Conversion and Management.