Twice as fast as a cargo ship is still only 50kph right?
And the Jet stream only goes one way and only West to East (in the northern hemisphere) and only at certain latitudes right?
So if you're only competing against cargo ships. And you happen to want to head East (only, no returns). And you need to go faster than a ship, but not over 100kph. And you are already at the right latitude and so it your destination. And you're cargo is not going to perish any time soon, and is not too dense, then this can work?
You're exactly right, but perhaps missed that the trade route you're describing is China to Los Angeles, which alone accounts for $132 billion in trade every year, and perhaps that cargo vessels allegedly account for 20-25% of anthropomorphic carbon emissions.
Also probably worth pointing out that airships going against the jetstream are still faster than cargo ships which are also going against sea currents.
I'll repeat my disclaimer again here, that "I think they're impractical for lots and lots of other reasons" but there is a definite benefit to cutting the carbon emissions of the world's most popular trade route by 90% and halving the time spent in transit even if you assume that there are no other applications, which is probably not correct.
I also find the idea of "they have to land at a airport" pretty murderous for autonomous vehicles. Like no they do not. They can deliver cargo to autonomous barges, which then deliver the cargo slow and steady and reliable to cargo terminals. No autonomous vehicle ever has to touch land..
100%. It seems obvious when thought about (but most people haven't thought about it) -- but airships don't need runways. Moreover, the only land-space that needs to be accommodated for them is the footprint, so a landing spot could be on the top of a skyscraper within a city center, or a parking lot, stadium, etc.
And that's not even counting the possibilities for water landings
And the Jet stream only goes one way and only West to East (in the northern hemisphere) and only at certain latitudes right?
So if you're only competing against cargo ships. And you happen to want to head East (only, no returns). And you need to go faster than a ship, but not over 100kph. And you are already at the right latitude and so it your destination. And you're cargo is not going to perish any time soon, and is not too dense, then this can work?