What do airships use for engine fuel?

The Zeppelin NT, a modern dirigible, is powered by three Lycoming IO-360 engines. These are the same engines that power popular small aircraft such as the Cessna 172. They run on 100-octane low-lead gasoline (100LL), often called "avgas. read more

US Navy Goodyear N-class blimps were used as airborne radar pickets from 1952 to 1962. They flew with two 7-cylinder supercharged air-cooled single row Wright R-1300 radial engines. Diagrams of the gondola show several compartments containing fuel and ballast tanks. read more

In regards to using the wind, an airship moving under its own power can consume fuel to maintain altitude. One that is drifting on the wind instead consumes lifting gas and ballast (venting gas during the day to counter solar heating; dropping ballast at night to counter cooling). read more

Because gas provides the lift in an airship or blimp, rather than a wing with an engine as in an airplane, airships can fly and hover without expending fuel or energy. read more