Anything is possible, but we live in a world where people want speed, if modern technology can defeat the sound boom, I'd say the odds of hydrogen fueled supersonic airliners are more likely than slow moving Airships. Both possibilities are certainly possible and if such vehicles are truly heavy lift vehicles, I can see it, but heavy lift and lighter than air Airships are counter to one another, especially if they're to reach the altitudes where whether isn't a major consideration. Our highest flying balloons are really not that heavy, when you're talking about cargo capacity of ships, or even a single train car, we're looking at kilotons.
I've spent time on aircraft carriers, I doubt if an Airship that size, over 1000 ft. long, could carry one thousandth of the capacity of that carrier. If you could build something that big and get it above the weather, could you bring it down in weather, or would it have to function like an aircraft carrier with everything transported up to it and back down. I would think it would need to be tens of thousands of feet long, I really don't see it happening. With fusion available for power, aircraft using the oxygen in the atmosphere with hydrogen, or rockets going above the atmosphere with liquid hydrogen and oxygen can be created and will only be creating water vapor in combustion. In time, I think that's the key to high speed transportation over long distance, and maglev trains on the surface for shorter distances. All of this will be long after I'm no longer here, and of course flying cars, etc. The key is low cost energy and fusion can provide it, then fuel cells can certainly work in all sorts of portable applications as well as much improved batteries. Again, all sources of power would essentially be non-polluting. Ships will either be powered by fuel cells, or fusion reactors. Personally I believe that fusion will be pulsed, as I don't know that we can control the sustained heat, but as long as more energy is captured than used in pulsing fusion it will prove to be the main power source of the future.
Back in the 1960's, when I was in engineering school, two things were felt to be certain by 2000, we'll have conquered cancer and nearly everything would be fusion powered. We've learned a great deal since then and while I believe by 2100 we'll have fusion providing much of our power needs, cancer will still be a threat, but not nearly as much as today. Of course this assumes we don't blow up the world first, or climate change doesn't wipe us out. I do believe it will be a very different world even by 2050, I'd be over 100 then, so it's very doubtful I'd see it. If PLUG still exists then it should be among the major industrials.
Gary
Bullish
AI
