ISOPOLAR AIRSHIPS
Encouraging the development of airship technology for sustainable transportation and logistics applications in northern latitudes.Welcome to ISO Polar Airships, a not-for-profit organization, that was founded in 2005 to encourage the use of cargo airships in Northern Canada. Like many new ideas, the rebirth of airship technology was met with skepticism and doubt. This seems to be changing as airship activity expands around the world and the need to access remote areas increases.
The economic impact of logistical challenges in the Northern latitudes is not much different in other remote areas in the topics or elsewhere. The cost of food, housing and just about everything else is three times higher than in urban areas because of infrastructure gaps. Cargo airships can provide a sustainable solution for the remote areas world-wide that reduces transportation costs and creates opportunities for economic development.
Climate change increases the need to embrace green technologies like airships. Unreliable ice roads and melting permafrost threaten land-based connections to remote communities. In other parts of the world, rising sea levels threaten coastal and island nations. Cargo airships are an appropriate green transportation technology to meet the needs of the 21st century.
What goes around comes around. Like windmills and electric cars, giant dirigibles were a used commercially in the 1930s. All three were replaced by cheaper fossil fuel competitors. Coal-fired electrical power plants replaced the windmills, gasoline-powered cars replaced electric cars, and kerosene-burning jet airplanes replaced the dirigibles. Science and engineering have turned the tables on carbon-based technologies. Electric cars and wind turbines are two of the fastest growing industries, and in some countries, their use is being mandated. It is only a matter of time before cargo airships experience a similar market renaissance because they can offer lower costs than competing airplanes and potentially zero carbon emissions.
ISO Polar serves as a clearinghouse to exchange information and to sponsor public events where new airship developments can be assessed. The organization also serves as a collective voice of the airship community to seek the cooperation and partnership with governments and supply chain participants.
LATEST AIRSHIP NEWS
What are cargo airships and how would they move freight in the outback?
By Maddie Nixon, ABC News Photo Credit: A conceptual rendering of Flying Whales’ 200-metre-long airship prototype LCA60T. (Supplied: Flying Whales) Picture this. You’re in the remote desert and a giant, oblong balloon, almost the length of three Airbus A380 aircraft, hovers overhead. It descends toward the ground without the need for a runway or landing […]
Remote northern Manitoba communities anxiously wait for winter road openings
By Chelsea Kemp, www.cbc.ca Photo Credit: John Woods/The Canadian Press Unseasonably warm weather impacting winter roads construction Northern Manitobans are nervously eyeing the sky and their thermometers hoping for the right conditions for winter roads to open. Ralph Harper of St. Theresa Point First Nation, Man., is watching the river in his community hoping it […]
Group studying future of airships in Manitoba
By MARTIN CASH, Winnipeg Free Press After 10 years of research, a 125-metre- long airship took its initial flight this week out of a massive hangar in Silicon Valley. Backed by Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin, the company, LTA (Lighter Than Air) Research, envisions using such airships for humanitarian relief. The timing of that launch in […]
The world’s largest aircraft breaks cover in Silicon Valley
By Mark Harris, https://techcrunch.com/ Photo Credit: LTA Research Sergey Brin-backed airship startup LTA Research begins flight testing today As dawn breaks over Silicon Valley, the world is getting its first look at Pathfinder 1, a prototype electric airship that its maker LTA Research hopes will kickstart a new era in climate-friendly air travel, and accelerate […]
Cargo Airship Strategy For Northern Canada Report
By Canadian Arctic Innovation Association, arcticinnovation.ca This document focuses on the application of airship technology to address various infrastructure challenges encountered in Northern Canada. Its purpose is to offer readers an informative overview of airships, highlighting their rich history and operations aspects, white also considering the modern advancements in terms of materials, computers, avionics and […]