An Inventory of Possibilities: The Potential for Hybrid Air vehicle in Canada

Introduction

  Canada is an immense country with large tracts of inaccessible remote wilderness. Lack of accessibility across long distances has preserved its natural beauty, but inhibits most resource development. The construction of single purpose, low traffic density roads through pristine landscapes is challenging from a cost prospective, while the barriers to environmental approval may be insurmountable.

  Hybrid air vehicle represent a unique solution to many of the transportation challenges affecting Canadian economic and northern development. In some cases commercial development is simply impossible without a commercial means of transporting fuel and mine supplies in, and ore concentrates out. Further, any transportation solution must be environmentally respectful. Typically, single purpose resource development roads that transect environmental sensitive lands are not a very palatable solution. Traditional lifestyles are being challenged by the encroachment of southern ideas and rapid changes to social and environmental norms.

  HHLAV vehicles represent the most logical transportation technology that has any realistic chance of unlocking the riches of the north and providing a sustainable foundation from which northern people can enter a modern economic world. In some cases, conventional transportation options, such as winter roads, can provide a stop-gap, but climate change is challenging their use. Moreover, these modes are often costly, environmentally disruptive as well as unreliable. For example, the billion dollar diamond mines in the North West Territories depend on a twelve week winter road season to move their entire annual fuel and bulk mine supplies. The consequences and impacts of not being able to re-supply the mine during this critical period could be financially catastrophic.

  The hardships caused to remote communities when they are not able to obtain necessary construction materials and heating fuel supplies are hard to imagine. In the south, a delay by the builder might mean a month before a new home buyer can take possession. In the north, in what is already a housing crisis situation, this means a whole year�s wait. Consider the aboriginal land claim issues confronting energy and mineral developers. In some cases, it is simply negotiating an impact-benefit to gain access to a right of way through their land. However, traditional peoples may not be willing, at any price, to grant access, if roads are the only option. If a commercially viable means to fly over this same land and leave it undisturbed were available, the problem would diminish greatly. Hybrid air vehicle provide an elegant solution to many of the challenges listed above and the best hope for allowing the North to reach its economic potential.

  Historically roads have been viewed as a public good and paid for by governments. More recently, industries are being asked to build private roads because the government is no longer willing to shoulder this responsibility. The result often is that the resource remains undeveloped because of this stalemate on road financing. Roads and railways have been the only viable technologies for land based bulk transportation. The advent of heavy lift hybrid air vehicle brings a third option. More importantly, in the case of this new hybrid technology, the vehicle is the infrastructure. Problems of ground disturbance and infrastructure financing disappear because hybrids can carry payloads large enough to offer an economically viable option to conventional transportation.

  This report examines the major resource sectors in Canada and presents an inventory of possible transportation applications where hybrid air vehicle can be the enabling technology that allows specific resource development projects to proceed. Further the analysis also explores other social applications such as re-supply to northern remote community and emergency response, such as forest fires. In the conclusion, the applications are summarized and some opportunity rankings are provided.

Perspective Setting

  Former Prime Minister Mackenzie King encapsulated the economic problem of providing infrastructure to develop the remote parts of Canada, �If some countries have too much history, we have too much geography.� The Canadian population has always been too small, relative to the financial demand, to construct and maintain all-weather roads or railway lines to most parts of the country. Moreover, the construction of surface infrastructure is difficult in Canada�s northern regions. The rugged terrain, environmental concerns and the complications posed by the need to deal with muskeg and permafrost make road construction very expensive.

  Transportation challenges discourage investment in industry, limit employment prospects and increase the cost of living. Without an efficient and economic means of transport, the natural resource opportunities in the North remain unreachable. High freight rates inflate the cost of inputs and limit the selection of consumer goods available. Often, Canadians living in the North are cut off from public services that are taken for granted in the rest of the country. These socio-economic disparities are greatest in the remote communities that have no all-weather road access.

  The North is served best by air transport. The distances are vast, the infrastructure costs of air transport are low, and the service is available year round. The technological challenge is the volume of goods that can be moved economically by small airplanes. If the operating costs of air transport could be reduced, the socio-economic benefits would be significant. It is for this reason that the development of a new generation of cargo carrying hybrid air vehicle presents such an appealing opportunity for the North.

  The following inventory of possibilities is explored and specific projects are presented in more detail. It is equally important to recognize that these projects are the ones that are known today. As with every major technology innovation, successful introduction represents only a starting point. Technology is a catalyst for evolving further applications once the potential becomes understood. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that hybrid air vehicle will ignite new exploration and development as it unlocks otherwise inaccessible areas by providing a new viable option.

Click on diagram for information on each subject.
 

Market Prospects

  The potential market for hybrid air vehicle in Canada is difficult to estimate because the reduction in transportation costs and ability to access new areas will create its own dynamic and generate new demand. In addition, the size of hybrid air vehicle will have a bearing on their applications. Smaller hybrids will be used for short haul markets, while larger hybrids will be able to undertake long haul missions. Similarly, larger hybrids will be able to offer the capacity to open larger scale mining operations that the smaller hybrids cannot serve. In order to develop an estimate of demand, a standardized unit is needed.

 
 

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