Global Helium Stocks

Last year, and earlier in this one, I sadly put away my infatuation with airships because of coherent and well-informed comments on the blog and elsewhere relating to the world shortage of helium.

This shortage, expressed in the diminishing stocks of helium held near Amarillo, Texas, was a consequence of American policies through the past decade led by Congress and the present Administration, and in part associated with peak oil.

One of the joys of the web, however, is the ability to go and look for other, well-informed viewpoints that it provides. On the basis of a thin skein of hope from Phil Kornbluth which I have located in this blog post, I am putting up another link to the truly beautiful Aeroscraft.

Kornbluth, as he declares, obviously has an economic interest which may colour your view of what he says. I claim no special scientific knowledge and it seems to me believable. If you can refute him, or wish to comment, please feel free to do so.

A testing device called the 'sky dragon' began service with the Aeros corporation this week. Aeros' innovative technologies are being tried out before the idea of the larger airship, similar to the airships depicted at the top of the post, is turned into reality.

With large, expensive metal boxes pouring gases into the atmosphere, truly horrible experiences at airports now the norm, and days wasted in security at either end of air terminals, who wouldn't want to rise gracefully into the sky on an airship observation deck and cruise to their destination? Even today's Batman protest makes the point.

I wish the technology and its fuel could lead us to a new world of clean, safe, airship technology. They really are beautiful craft--and this one 'takes the biscuit'.

Unfortunately, I can't help but think that my earlier commentators were probably right, and airships remain just a seductive fantasy. Someone prove that fear wrong, please.