• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit August 15, 2022
Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature August 15, 2022
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Airship Company Plans to Float Cargo Gently Over the Canadian Arctic

April 14, 2021
Reading time: 2 minutes

/Snappy Goat

/Snappy Goat

 

A Paris-based airship company called Flying Whales has signed an exclusive deal with Canada that could advance plans to use the dirigibles as an Arctic-preserving cargo solution. 

“Many different companies have pitched airship ideas over the years, but none have been able to get those plans off the ground,” writes CBC News, adding that the typical trajectory for such projects has been test, failure, missed deadlines, and finally bankruptcy.  

Flying Whales is envisioning a happier destiny, with president Sébastien Bougon telling CBC that local hiring and partnerships and a cathedral-sized assembly line in Quebec are on the near horizon. 

Described by the company asthe world’s largest aircraft, the Flying Whale airships are massive creatures indeed, at 200 metres long. Such a vast size allows the rigid balloon ships to lift a standard cargo of 60 tonnes, “three times the maximum carrying capacity of a Hercules plane,” CBC notes. 

The Flying Whale are also “something like 10 times cheaper than a plane that would have the equivalent capacity of tonnage,” Bougon said.  

Proponents of the blimp idea tout the vessels “as a lower-cost solution to transport cargo to remote areas, including the North,” writes CBC. Quebec has invested C$30 million in the idea as part of its economic strategy for developing its northern reaches. The deal requires Flying Whales to “build a factory in Quebec and base all of its American continental operations in Canada in exchange for early capital.”

As for when Flying Whales might take to the skies, Bougon told CBC the company is aiming for a first prototype by 2023, which would then “require six months of ground testing and almost two years of flight testing before commercial production could be approved.” So, maybe 2026.

Reporting on the company last September, Business Insider explained that the Flying Whale airships are designed to offload their cargo in mid-air, require no extra infrastructure (like runways) to operate, and can serve the remotest locations without leaving a trace of their passage. They get from A to B using a lower-emission hybrid-electric propulsion system, and hover using helium. 

Canadian environmental visionary Silver Donald Cameron would be pleased to hear that a Flying Whale may one day be seen in his country’s northern skies. Cameron died in June 2020, but once called such airships “the only form of flight the ecosphere can afford.”



in Air & Marine, Canada, Climate & Society, Community Climate Finance, Demand & Distribution, Ending Emissions, Jurisdictions, UK & Europe

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Suncor Energy Plant_Max and Dee Bernt:Flickr
Ending Emissions

Fossils Would ‘Bust the Paris Agreement’ with Inadequate Decarbonization Plans

August 18, 2022
2
Ken Hodge/Flickr
Oil & Gas

No Path for Canadian LNG Exports to Europe, IISD Analysis Concludes

August 18, 2022
3
Steve Jurvetson/flickr
International Security & War

The Other Kind of Climate Change: Even a ‘Limited’ Nuclear War Would Trigger Starvation, Kill Billions

August 18, 2022
75

Comments 3

  1. Charles Simon says:
    1 year ago

    What are the flammability issues with helium?

    Reply
  2. Susan Young says:
    1 year ago

    Check out Canada’s own Solar Ship, based out of Brantford, ON.

    Reply
  3. Bruno says:
    1 year ago

    Helium is an inert gas, it cannot ignite at all – unlike hydrogen.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Brocken Inaglory/wikimedia commons

State-Wide Megastorm Driven by Global Heating Could Drench California for a Month

August 15, 2022
1.1k
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coal_Carbon_Capture_Technology_In_Use.png

Carbon Capture a ‘Dangerous Distraction’, 500 Organizations Warn Canada, U.S.

July 23, 2021
617
TGEGASENGINEERING/Wikimedia Commons

EXCLUSIVE: Hydrogen is Up, Pieridae is Out as German Chancellor Preps for Canada Visit

August 15, 2022
1.1k
Vinaykumar8687/WikimediaCommons

Solar On Track for ‘Staggering’ 30% Growth This Year

August 15, 2022
315
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 14, 2022
753
rawpixel

Common Medications Foil Body’s Ability to Cope with Hot Weather

August 15, 2022
205

Recent Posts

Suncor Energy Plant_Max and Dee Bernt:Flickr

Fossils Would ‘Bust the Paris Agreement’ with Inadequate Decarbonization Plans

August 18, 2022
2
Ken Hodge/Flickr

No Path for Canadian LNG Exports to Europe, IISD Analysis Concludes

August 18, 2022
3
Steve Jurvetson/flickr

The Other Kind of Climate Change: Even a ‘Limited’ Nuclear War Would Trigger Starvation, Kill Billions

August 18, 2022
75
kris krüg/flickr

Guilbeault Considering Alternatives to Releasing Toxic Tailings into Athabasca River

August 18, 2022
2
Ford F-150 LIghtning

U.S. Utility Plans to Draw Power from Ford Electric Pickups

August 18, 2022
2
power pylons sunrise grid

Midwestern U.S. Grid Investment Supports Massive Increase in Renewables

August 18, 2022
3
Next Post
alternativeheat/flickr

B.C. Wood Pellet Industry Feeds on Whole Trees, Not Waste Wood

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}