Despite what was stated in the reading, there are several reasons why airships are not likely to be widely used in the future.
Yes, these ships use less fuel, but don't forget that airships also require special lighter-than-air gases that give them lift. The two most efficient lifting gases are hydrogen and helium, and each has its own problems. Hydrogen catches fire easily and this has led to many tragic airship accidents in the past. Helium is safer, but it is difficult to obtain, expensive and it doesn't provide as much lifting power as hydrogen. So, finding a truly economical solution for the lifting gases, a solution that balances safety and cost, is not an easy matter.
Second, using airships for picking up loads off the ground has its challenges. Imagine for a second, an airship picking up tree logs in a forest, it has to slowly come down, pick the logs up, and then safely rise again. Throughout this process the airship has to be kept very steady so as to pick up the loads safely and not crash, but airships are large and light like balloons. It's difficult to keep them steady, especially under windy conditions. A sudden gust of wind can easily blow the airship against the surrounding forest trees and seriously damage it.
Finally, airships are not quite ready to replace satellites yet. You see, the types of airships currently in use can only rise to heights about 14 kilometers above the surface. The problem is, at that height, there are very strong winds. Airships have to spend a lot of their fuel to resist those winds and stay in one place, which they need to do to carry on telecommunications or surveying functions. So, the airships working at that height quickly use up the fuel and have to descend and refuel. So right now, they cannot provide the kind of continuous, uninterrupted service satellites can.
