Our planet is on a brink of an environmental disaster. Global temperatures are rising, with stark consequences for many of the things that we take for granted. Advanced technological innovations like drones, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc. are crucial for climate change mitigation.
Fortunately, there is a technology that has emerged to gather data:
- For conservation projects
- To support the work of environmental researchers
- Playing a key role in implementing sustainable solutions
- Helping in the fight against the odds created by climate effects, and
- To service renewable energy infrastructure.
And it can do all of those things in a way thatโs better, easier, faster, cheaper, and safer than before. We are speaking about Drones for Climate Change! These flying robots are tackling climate change from multiple angles. Improving the efficiency of solar and wind farms, protecting endangered species, and supporting the work of scientists across the world.
Drones are powering Earth’s sustainable future, and by the end of this blog, you will agree with me.
The use of drones for filmmaking and military purposes is not the only use. They help combat climate change too. And it is a very crucial shift in our technological capability for combatting climate change. Information is key, and timely received information is gold, and thatโs one of the primary use cases of Drones. Besides that, drones have bigger potential and can help fight severe climate change issues.
Drones for planting trees
Let me start with a piece of mind-boggling information, i.e., planting trees with drones. You wonโt believe that there are drones that can plant 120 trees per minute. Think about it, how much time it would take for human planters to plant such a number?
The interesting thing to know
Deforestation is responsible for more than 15% of net global carbon emissions (comparable to the worldโs entire transportation sector), making the protection of forests are vital in the effort to reduce emissions. And Costa Rica is currently trialing a project called โDeep Forestโ which uses drones to monitor tree degradation and the impact of illegal logging. It’s hoped that, by knowing more about the forest, conservation efforts will be more impactful. Drones are also helping plant trees, startup BioCarbon Engineering has created drones that can plant as many as 100,000 trees per day and has spent years replanting the mangroves around the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar.
Planting trees can slow climate change and other environmental harms. It can reduce carbon, improve the air and water quality, and can also help in preventing erosion. They can play a significant role in planting trees as well. Below is an interesting video of Droneseed planting trees through Drones.
Drones for cleaning air pollution
Another thing that fascinates me is the utilization of drones for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. For countries like India in terms of air pollution, Drone can result in a game-changing role. Remember Diwali? Drones can clear smog and can spray the polluted air with water and special solutions to reduce PM 2.5 particles. And this helps in decreasing the air pollution dramatically. It is the one most important issue that India is fighting, and Drones have an answer to it. Amazing right?
Drones for inspecting nuclear power stations
A breathtaking real-world problem that I want to discuss is nuclear plants and the radiation associated with them. Nuclear power is something that can play an enormous role in moving the world away from fossil fuels. But there are practical challenges, as whenever there is the word nuclear there is this danger of health and safety. The threat of radiation exposure means that infrastructure inspections can put workers in too much harm. With drones as their eyes, engineers can now perform visual inspections from a safe distance.
For active nuclear plants, a single drone flight can provide power companies with savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This will help industries avoid costly shutdowns while doing inspections. If you havenโt seen Chernobyl (TV Mini-Series 2019), a TV Series on an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. I urge you to see it. It’s the world’s most dreadful man-made catastrophe that took place in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. If that time drones had been around, thousands of people would have saved their lives.
Drones in agriculture
One of the key areas of sustainability in Agriculture. With a growing global population, farmers are turning to drones and other technologies. It helps them to maximize their yields by better adapting to recurring challenges of weather, climate change, pests, and diseases.
To make data-driven decisions, farmers need accurate data. Drones and these latest generations of sensors can help in capturing the insights quickly and cost-effectively. Above all, it can help in planning crop cycles, assessing crop health, detecting infestations, or determining hydration levels.
The agricultural industry has been utilizing technology since the early 90s to improve efficiency and profits. Since the first GPS system for automated tractors, technology has been a valuable tool for farmers. Often referred to as “precision agriculture“. Now, farmers are using drones to spray crops and to keep track of their herds. Utilizing drones in precision agriculture plans expands the overall farming experience by:
- Monitoring โ crop growth, moisture levels, irrigation problems, parasite impact, livestock location and health, soil erosion
- Detection โ weed growth, parasite invasion, livestock threats, weather damage, UV damage
- Assessment โ crop yield estimation, asset, and facility status, fertilizer & herbicide impact
- Deployment โ watering, seeding, livestock, and asset tracking
Drones to keep up with coastal changes
Climate Change is also threatening our coastal areas. As sea levels rise, some of the most serious impacts of climate change are already becoming evident. The goal at this point is to reduce the long-term impact of climate change alongside mitigation.
Coastal areas are most at risk, and to understand the water flows, drones are the perfect tool. They can survey and can cover a huge amount of ground in a minimal period, without sacrificing data granularity.
Drone-enabled LiDAR surveys can help in simulating the shoreline changes so that scientists can account for rising sea levels. They can also run storm impact models, and predict which areas will be most at risk of flooding.
Drones for scientists and researchers
Above all, the most valuable use case for scientists and researchers are getting to the nerves of the planet. That’s right, I meant to examine the underlying causes by looking at the most inaccessible areas. Consider how crucial it is for scientists and researchers to be able to access remote areas using drones. They are examining the effects of climate change on rainforest trees, mountain air, and underwater ecosystems.
Underwater, scientists have sent drones to collect sediment samples and analyze climate changeโs impact on ocean life. Consider the number of touchpoints between scientists and researchers whenever there is an immediate impact on the climate. Imagine, with the population of Whales are struggling to recover from over three centuries. The North Atlantic whales are just one step from extinction. And counting those whales is a time-consuming task if you do it with boats, and thatโs where drones work. They just donโt count whales but are also capable to monitor the changes in the temperature. They articulate the climatic changes happening underwater, hence giving a broader and more detailed perspective to scientists.
Drones for delivery
Delivery is also one more area that I want to talk about. Transportation is one of the major contributors to carbon emissions. The practical and fractional shift to drones for delivery can bring a significant impact on carbon reduction. Amazon has done POC and proved that it can work.
But because of their limited range, drones may only serve small parcels today. Other thoughts have been about deploying drones in coordination with the trucks. By theory it could scale last-mile delivery, reducing the truck delivery drive route, miles, and emissions. For now, the good news is, drone delivery in the US has, at least, started in its trial stages.
Drones for disaster mitigation
In the last use case, I’d like to discuss a plan to mitigate climate disasters. Robots, IoT, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence could all help us improve the capabilities of drones. We can use them in many ways and one of the scenarios could be the disaster mitigation plan for wildfires. Remember the Australian bushfire season or 2020 California Wildfires? Burning more than 200,000 sq km of area is likely to be the flight distance between Delhi and Dhaka.
Such a wildfire puts the wildlife in danger, the nearby cities in danger, and even the entire humanity in danger.
The disaster mitigation use case: Improving Information and Communications in a Disaster Scenario
Imagine that there are sensors and other real-time drone monitoring systems available when the wildfire erupts. It will allow generating a predictive analysis of future events related to the disaster.
We can identify the direction of fire penetration using the current technology by determining the wind’s direction and other factors. Further using drones we can create predictive pathways to identify the most probable touchpoint of the city. In addition, if we know where the fire will strike first, we can plan disaster control effectively. We can plan for much-informed evacuation plans, we can plan for coordinated traffic diversions. Drones can learn to make smart decisions by using artificial intelligence and machine learning. They can identify critical areas for identifying and notifying high priorities on time.
Drones can help us fight these climate effects. Today we can throw dragon eggs using drones. These are those anti-fire balls that blast into the fire and can work as a fire extinguisher. Now think, unless we use drones today, we can’t go deep into wildfires and extinguish them. Because other options could pose a greater risk for human life if we don’t use Drones. So drones can simply fly above these wildfires and can throw these balls. Isnโt it a life-changing, thing?
Closing note – Drones and Climate Change
Drones are at the forefront of a technological revolution. These flying robots are providing scientists with an easy and inexpensive way to gather vital climate data. It gives renewable energy companies a powerful productivity tool and helps researchers prepare for the complex implications of climate change.
Imagine drones delivering first aid kits or life vests to people during a Hurricane. Whether theyโre in the air or underwater, drones can be vital for finding solutions to many challenges of climate change.
In this Podcast Series of Conscious Citizens, we will learn about the concerning matter of Climate Change. Humanity faces the greatest threat from climate change, and it is important to address this issue as a matter of major concern. We will go through the impact of climate change on Humankind, the solutions that will define our fate, and the technological innovations that can help.
Climate risks pose serious threats to Kenyaโs sustainable development goals. India and Kenya share a lot of similar concerns, in this talk of Conscious Citizens, Abhilash will discuss with Lynn the different aspects of climate issues concerning Kenya.
โบ DISCLAIMER โ
Information provided in the podcast is a general guide from a personal perspective and does not constitute legal or authoritative advice. The statistics and regulations referred to in the podcast are sourced from the public information bureau and are subject to change with time. It is the viewer’s responsibility to verify the currency of information.