Clean Technology – SkyLifter

Genuinely clean

Aiming for zero carbon emissions and practical operations. From manufacture, through to end-of-life, the SkyLifter’s environmental impact has been carefully thought through. Every aspect is clever and in harmony with our environment.

Sustainable energy

SkyLifters use sun and wind energy to fly.

Sun

The upper surface of the aerostat is the perfect place for solar collectors.

Wind

SkyLifters can drift with the wind, with thrust-off and using just a trickle of energy to power life-support, avionics and essential systems. Used when conditions permit, this is another major advantage of SkyLifters over their heavier-than-air, winged cousins.

Energy efficiency

Overall, SkyLifter’s cost per tonne-kilometre is exceptionally economic. This is mainly because energy is used for propulsion, not for lifting. SkyLifter’s are permanently floating, so their payload transport efficiency is more similar to sea ships than to aircraft.

Land footprint

No new roads, rail lines or airports are needed to support SkyLifters, and in most cases not even a hangar.

No new infrastructure

The long flight endurance enables sites to be accessed without impacting the surrounding environment. Also, without the road, the environment is further protected from the general influx of people and their vehicles. Therefore SkyLifters are ideal for supplying services to environmentally-sensitive areas.

No noise pollution

Compared to other aircraft, SkyLifters will be reasonably quiet, so there likely will be minimal noise pollution for people and wildlife close to their flight paths.

Manufacture & Maintenance

Less manufacture and less maintenance = fewer emissions and less waste.

Together, the manufacture and maintenance of aircraft is usually the greatest cost of aircraft ownership and has a significant environmental impact. However, many of the materials and components used in SkyLifters is currently employed in other industries and, as such, the manufacturing and support efficiency has already been optimized. This existing knowledge helps us control our R&D costs and minimises further environmental impact.

For Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul activities (MRO), almost all of the aircraft systems are conveniently located in the pod and therefore are readily accessible to the maintenance engineers. Hangars and other ground facilities may be portable because SkyLifters require no permanent ground infrastructure or home base mooring. They simply need a reasonably flat secure area up to 4 times the diameter of the aircraft.