UK manufacturer Hybrid Air Vehicles has designed a hybrid-electric version of Airlander 10, an airship that could provide a less carbon-intensive alternative to short-haul flights.
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), which is based in Bedford, has designed a dirigible that could take 100 passengers on popular, short routes such as Liverpool to Belfast.
The company calculates that using their airship would produce "75 per cent fewer emissions than conventional aircraft in similar roles".
The Airlander 10 went viral in 2016 when photographs released of its test flight earned it the nickname of the "flying bum".  Subsequent redesigns have made it svelter and less peach-shaped.
Airlander 10 went viral in 2016 when it was nicknamed the "flying bum" The hybrid-electric Airlander 10 would be filled with helium and propelled by two electric motors powered by hydrogen fuel cells at the front and two combustion engines at the rear.
"Using lighter-than-air technology means that Airlander 10 requires significantly less power to generate lift and fly," a spokesperson for HAV told Dezeen.
"Airlander 10, therefore, produces far fewer emissions even before electrification."
A new hybrid-electric version could have less carbon impact
HAV calculates that a passenger's individual carbon impact for a flight between Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca would be 4.5 kilograms on an Airlander 10, versus 53 kilograms taking the same trip on a traditional aerop...