In the vast landscape of global freight shipping, reliability is key. Since the beginning of the pandemic, however, we’ve seen countless headlines describing disruption in the shipping and logistics industry, affecting everything from processing chips for computers and cars to petroleum and salt. As pandemic-related issues cool, attacks on ships in the Red Sea and even infrastructure failures continue to wreak havoc on global trade.
It would seem that reliability is a target currently out of reach. In fact, industry experts predict that the delays and increased costs associated with ocean freight will cause some of the more important cargo to shift to air transport. However, air transport remains incredibly expensive—10 to 20 times more expensive.
Let’s take a look at the numbers. A staggering 11 billion metric tons of seagoing freight was shipped in 2020. Approximately 30% of that freight is considered “high-value” and appropriate to ship by air — if shipping by air weren’t so expensive. This equates to 3.3 billion metric tons waiting for reliable and cost-effective airborne delivery.
Enter airships, a promising alternative to freight planes. These lighter-than-air craft consume considerably less energy than airplanes, can move goods faster than a ship, and aren’t affected by Houthi rebels or downed infrastructure. A closer look at airships, however, reveals a challenge.
If you build airships capable of carrying 150 metric tons of freight with a payload fraction of 50% (typical of most airships and other cargo aircraft), you end up with a fully laden mass of 300 metric tons. However, a crucial component is holding airships back: helium, the lighter-than-air gas used to lift them.
Helium is incredibly expensive. At $7.57 per cubic meter, it would cost a staggering $2.3 million to fill each airship just once. When extrapolated to meet the demand for transporting 3.3 billion metric tons of high-value freight, the numbers become mind-boggling. The world would need a fleet of 11 million airships to transport this volume.
Helium is also very rare. Global helium production stands at a mere 160,000,000 cubic meters, meaning that if we dedicated every cubic meter of helium produced each year in the entire world to operate these 150 freight-ton airships, we’d be limited to running only 533 of them. That’s a far cry from the number needed to make a meaningful impact on the freight transport industry.
What’s more, helium is a by-product of natural gas extraction, meaning that overall production is likely to decline rather than expand as our civilization moves away from the use of fossil fuels. According to the New York Times, the dwindling supply of helium has led the US to auction off its reserves to private equity in an attempt to “allow the private sector to further develop the industry.”
Sidebar: Yes, a new “dream” reserve has been discovered underground in Minnesota. As Anumá Aerospace co-founder and CEO, Diana Little points out, however, “It’s still rare. It’s still expensive. It’s still generally tied to natural gas deposits. It’s still leaky.”
This scarcity isn’t just about economics; it’s about sustainability and the future of vital industries. While most associate helium with party balloons, it’s actually a critical resource for scientific research and healthcare. MRI machines rely on helium to operate, and considering that many diagnoses rely on MRI results, a shortage could have catastrophic consequences.
At Anumá Aerospace, we believe helium is far too precious to waste on party balloons – or airships. We also believe that airships are the future of air transport. So, how do we reconcile the two? Is there a way to make airships practical? A way to operate airships without using helium, or hydrogen, its flammable lighter-than-air cousin?
Over 350 years ago, mathematician and physicist Francesco Lana De Terzi proposed the concept of vacuum lift, but the reality has been elusive…until we solved the problem. Anumá’s patented partial-vacuum lift (PVL) cells are the first technology of its kind to create lift using vacuum. By replacing the need for helium, our vacuum-lift technology will allow for increased scale and cargo capacity. Our PVL cells can lift a lot more than 533 airships.
Additionally, Anuma’s electrically powered vacuum pumps and valves are integrated with a system for recovering electrical energy expended during ascent. By using the inflow of air into the PVL cells during descent to regenerate some of the electricity expended during ascent, we are able to improve overall energy efficiency and increase the vehicle’s overall range. We’re ushering in a new era of safe, sustainable, affordable air freight transport.
To learn how we’re making airships practical while decarbonizing aviation, visit https://anumaaerospace.com or contact [email protected].
