I'm sure you will agree the energy industry is much larger than the air-cargo industry.
Lighter-than-air wind turbines will allow us to tap winds at higher altitudes than towers can reach. Like urban sprawl, the best way to combat vast sprawling wind farms on precious little land area is simply to build vertically. BTW this is a Canadian invention. We don't have much solar energy resources to speak of.
Magenn Air Rotor website gives these images comparing the relative wind resource at different altitudes. At the 50-meter (200 feet) altitude typical of big tower turbines today the best winds are offshore. In contrast, the 300-meter (1000 feet) altitude of lighter-than-air turbines provides a much larger wind resource, much of it inland rather than offshore.
Space/Science » in reply to Zeppelins
There may be millions of them in the future.