Drone Cargo Airships for Energy Supply (on the Example of the Irkutsk Region)

The communities along the shores of Lake Baikal currently rely on firewood, coal, and petroleum products to generate thermal and electric energy. However, a large proportion of inefficient and outdated electric and thermal energy generation equipment compounds the negative environmental impact of energy facilities in the area. The study explores the possibility of improving the environmental situation through the use of liquefied natural gas. Given the inaccessibility of these territories, the potential for using airships to deliver fuel is examined. A comparative analysis of several logistics schemes for the delivery of liquefied natural gas is carried out. The findings reveal that the use of airships for power supply to new settlements in isolated and hard-to-reach areas of the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Territory is preferable to the organization of multimodal transportation. In conclusion, we recommend considering the possibility of creating a pilot industrial test site in the Irkutsk region to accelerate the commercialization of unmanned cargo airship technologies