In a search for alternatives to the famed ice roads of the Arctic, Canadian officials are looking to use massive airships for moving freight across the frozen north.
"We have a duty as Canadians not to abandon the North," University of Manitoba professor Barry Prentice told the Calgary Sun. "We're at the tipping point -- once there's one airship in the sky, there'll be a stampede towards airships." If such a shift occurs, large cargo could be moved via airship economically. Unlike trucks or planes, airships can operate in all but the most extreme weather.
With such promise, it's no surprise that cargo airships are the focus of the fifth annual Airships to the Arctic conference, to be held next week in Calgary.
As anyone who's watched Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel could tell you, trucking companies are extremely limited in their access to northern communities, some of which include vital oil and mining outposts. Additionally, according to Prentice, airships will become even more valuable as climate change further reduces the already short ice road season.
Luckily for Canadians, Calgary might be the world headquarters for airship research and development. Calgary-based SkyHook International, together with Boeing, is developing a massive cargo airship that's capable of carrying over 80,000 pounds of freight over 200 miles. The HLV -- for Heavy Lift Vehicle -- is powered by helicopter engines and may take to the sky as soon as 2014.
"In the oil and gas industry, there are significant pressures on cost, speed, safety and environmental impact," SkyHook director Rob Mayfield said in a statement. "The Skyhook HLV represents solutions to each of these challenges in various applications."
In addition to the hometown heroes at SkyHook, Prentice told the Calgary Herald that 16 companies worldwide have airships in the test phase. Thirteen of those companies will be at next week's conference. "It isn't just us that are interested in airships," he said. "There's a worldwide race to get into this technology."
Image: Boeing. Someday, airships could transport vital freight to isolated Arctic communities.
