United Earth
Trains! We need more trains! Less flying, more railway! I mean holy energy expenses, Batman!
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
HGW XX/7
So it's not even a case of "if we had the materials and the tech", it's just physically impossible? Shame.
Excellent post, though, very informative for non-science literate people like me. ![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Insufficiently dangerous. Live a
little, baby!
edited 11th Jun '14 1:06:40 PM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der Partei
CPV can hypothetically be used to do it, although I don't really know how it would work on a plane.
Professional Smartass
Professional Forum Ninja
I could also see airplanes charging up and using solar power (along with wind power) as ways of keeping enough energy to not have to use as much power.
"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
I'm not sure who first said it, but it is still true: We don't have an energy production problem. We have an energy distribution problem.
Another way to say it is that we have an energy storage problem.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
It might work on an airship.
A dirigible?
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
Professional Forum Ninja
I could easily see a dirigible covered in solar panels or in a material that absorbs solar energy without setting off whatever is keeping it afloat.
"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Indiana Solo
Could be done. You'd want light materials, but could likely make it work. Could act as a cargo ship over land.
I'm baaaaaaack
The Wanderer
Though with helium, you don't even have to worry about that.
But most dirigibles, that big structure up top isn't just a gas bag. It's more of a shell for the lifting gas cells inside that ideally shouldn't come in contact with the outer skin.
Depends on what type it is. But yes, you generally dont have to worry about the gas inside. Weight is the larger concern. You only need to produce enough energy to power forward movement, since the gas does the work of suspending the blimp in mid-air.
Dirigible engines are about 300HP (or ~224KW). You need at least two. Call it 500KW. With a surface area well over that needed to produce 7MW and battery technology well capable of holding sufficient juice to at least station-keep overnight, a solar powered dirigible seems very possible with no advances needed in current art.
Goal: Clear, Concise and Witty
United Earth
Cool Airships are cool.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
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They have cautioned that it'll take at least a few years with a much larger project to create a fully-working generator, and while their goals are rather lofty, if they pull this off, the benefits could be enormous.
edited 19th Jun '14 8:17:06 AM by Cronosonic
The Wanderer
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That sounds like Movie!Iron Man's reactor.
The Wanderer
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Moving several hundred tons of metal at transonic speeds takes a ridiculous amount of energy.