The Low-Down:

Getting oversized, overweight, or flat-out unusual cargo moved is a challenge when you have a top-notch transportation network at your disposal. But what happens when you need to move it to a remote location?

The answer, according to Mike Lawson, CEO of E-Green Technologies, Inc. is an airship. Specifically, the Bullet 580, which will be ready to fly in a couple of months.

“Think of our cargo ships like a tanker at sea,” says Lawson. “Most payloads will be acceptable. The big difference is we fly a ‘helicopter’ and can place cargo in extreme areas-from the outback of Australia to the northern part of Canada, EGT can land the payload.”

The airship built by EGT has 18 patents, says Lawson. “Our engines are mounted on the outer hull with full vectoring capability. There is no gondola. The lifting gas is captured with multiple inner bags called a ‘reverse ballonet’ patented technology.” Not only does the Bullet 580 exceed the performance limitations of traditional blimps or zeppelins, they can be fueled by algae, making them exceeding ‘green.’

The 235-foot long Bullet 580 can carry payloads of up to 2,000 pounds and 20,000 feet with a dash speed of 80 mph. Payloads are carried inside the outer envelope, which is one-sixteenth of an inch thick, but 10 times stronger than steel. The material is a new type of Kevlar, which is used to make bulletproof vests.

“Airships have undergone surprisingly little evolution throughout their more than 150-year history, and this is what makes our E-Green proprietary designs so desirable to government and commercial customers,” says Lawson.