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SHORT NEWS

British company produces climate-friendly airship

#airplane #alternative fuels #mobility #sustainability

According to its developers, the British airship Airlander 10 could take off for commercial flights with passengers from 2028.

the airship flying over a coast

The plans for this greener - but also significantly slower - way of travelling compared to conventional aircraft are "well underway", according to the company Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) in Bedford, England. Production is due to start later this year.

At 91 metres, the Airlander 10 is larger than the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world, but consumes up to 75 percent fewer emissions during flight, according to HAV. The developer is also planning an all-electric and a hybrid version of the airship. This would push the emission values down even further.

No competition for passenger aircraft

However, experts do not see the airship as an alternative to passenger aircraft. "As a means of transport for long distances, I don't see any future on a commercial basis because the speed is simply far too low," explained Andreas Schäfer, Director of the Air Transport Laboratory at University College London. He sees more of a "niche market" for airships.

At the same time, other companies also appear to see potential in airships as a replacement for helicopters or aeroplanes. The French company Flying Whales, for example, is currently developing a fleet to transport heavy loads.

There are a total of 23 pre-orders for HAV's airship, 20 from the Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum. The Airlander 10 can take off and land on water and land, stay in the air for five days and cover a distance of 7000 kilometres - all at a speed of around 140 km/h.

Written by: sda

Photos: HAV

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a city covered in fog

Drinking water from fog: researchers capture clean water from polluted air

A specially coated metal mesh can extract water from fog and remove environmental pollutants at the same time. With the technology developed in Zurich, drinking water can be extracted from the air even in regions with heavy air pollution.
September 11th, 2023
Carlos Sanchez

A smart path into a sustainable future

Sustainability is no longer a distant dream but a present and pressing reality. Climate change and environmental degradation are forcing companies to take action. They must innovate and implement smart sustainability solutions, says Carlos Sanchez, a renowned sustainability visionary who shared with us the latest sustainability trends that can help build robust, resilient, and sustainable businesses.
September 28th, 2023
Mechanics performing maintenance work on an aircraft

Researchers make non-recyclable plastic recyclable

Swiss researchers have developed a new type of recyclable plastic that could be used in aircraft, cars or wind turbines in the future.
October 2nd, 2023
Recycled asphalt was used on the Lucmanier Pass

More recycled asphalt on Swiss roads

Tests with recycled asphalt on Swiss roads show promising results. In Uster ZH and on the Lukmanier Pass GR, the proportion of recycled asphalt could be increased without any loss of performance, according to Empa.
October 16th, 2023
a photovoltaic system on a house facade

Sun soon to be the most important source of energy

The sun is likely to become the world's most important source of energy before 2050, according to British scientists. This is the result of an analysis of technological and economic data by the University of Exeter and University College London.
November 27th, 2023
A hospital room with two beds divided by a curtain

Germicidal textiles for hospitals

A new process developed by Swiss researchers makes textiles germicidal. In future, this could be used to coat curtains in hospitals.
December 25th, 2023
G.V. Shivashankar arbeitet am PSI und der ETH Zürich

Fountain of youth for cells

Reprogrammed cells allow wounds in older people to heal faster. This could, for example, help burn victims.
January 1st, 2024
A scientist taking a water sample with a bottle

Gentle identification of fish species through their DNA

Identifying fish species in a river using DNA traces: This method was tested in Switzerland. It proved to be simpler and more reliable than the electrofishing method used to date.
January 15th, 2024
pressed plastic bottles

Microplastics fly particularly far and high

Microplastic fibres fly higher and further than previously assumed - even as far as the Arctic.
January 22nd, 2024
A futuristic aircraft with a blended wing body

Aircraft of the future make less noise

In an Empa research project, study participants rated the noise of new types of aircraft as less annoying than the noise of today's aircraft.
April 9th, 2024