Drone deliveries save on GHG emissions over traditional methods (Source: Greennews.ie)

As we all know, there is a direct correlation between human activity and greenhouse gas (GHG) levels in the atmosphere. The main human causes of GHG emissions being; fossil fuel use, agriculture and deforestation. With the population continuing to rise, so of course, does global demand and consumerism. This in turn contributes to the increased GHG emissions in the transport, ecommerce and agricultural industries. A new and interesting way to help combat the rise in GHG is by the use of drones and they can do so in several ways.

Delivery by drone

In 2016 in the USA alone, transportation fuelled by fossil fuels is one of the largest sources of all GHG emissions. The large majority of these emissions come from vehicles and trucks that are used to deliver freight to businesses and consumers. The use of delivery drones is likely to have a big impact on reducing vehicle based GHG emissions by replacing the vehicles used in small package delivery. Researchers have shown that this reduction is can depend on where the electricity is generated but drones beat petrol and diesel delivery vehicles in GHG emissions. If the grid power is heavily coal generated, drones can beat elective vehicles in GHG reduction!

2. Direct monitoring of GHG emissions

A key to reducing GHG emissions is to identify the sources of those emissions and then developing strategies to limit or mitigate them. Understanding that GHGs extend well beyond CO2, and gasses such as methane and nitrous oxides (NOx), also have powerful GHG potential is critical.

When rigged up with the correct sensors, drones can provide a rapid and low-cost identification of unwanted emissions sources across a range of industries, such as:

Oil & gas production, & transport through the identification of fugitive emissions and gas leaks;

Agricultural emissions from soils and animals; and

Emissions from landfill.

Many projects are already being conducted across the world using drones as the primary data source for the identification and mapping of GHG emissions like the GHGMap project being undertaken in British Columbia.

3. Monitoring deforestation

Deforestation is a key issue in the GHG cycle, by reducing the amount of the available carbon sink to offset GHG emissions, and also as a source of GHG through the burning of forests waste or it natural decomposition though bacterial action to create methane emissions. Scientists have found that deforestation creates more GHG that all of the world’s cars and trucks combined.

Drones provide a low cost and effective platform to collect data and monitor key locations over time to identify deforestation changes over time and help understand the impact of deforestation activities. Due to their low cost of deployment and use, drones are ideal for use in developing countries with limited resources. For example, native tribes in Panama are using drones to monitor deforestation.

Drones also have uses in repairing the damage with the creation of ‘seeding drones’. UK start-up BioCarbon Engineering uses drones to plant germinated seeds to replace trees lost to deforestation. The drone program appears to be more successful than current efforts using helicopter based seeding.

BioCarbon Engineering video showing how drones can restore the ecosystem (Source: BioCarbon Engineering)

4. Improving agricultural efficiency

For example, if a sensor in the field detects crops are being over or under-watered, or if the soil doesn’t have enough nutrients, it can automatically alert drones to be deployed to scope out if it’s an issue with the irrigation system, what the soil condition looks like, or even if it’s a false-read. Moreover, when the drone flies over farmland, it can also send back video and multispectral images that can observe the differences between healthy and unhealthy crops and then notify resources to be deployed accordingly. This helps farmers see issues they may overlook or not be able to see regularly, especially if they have to survey hundreds of acres.

5. Powering drones with renewables

Drones are currently driven by batteries, so unless you are on 100% renewable energy already, your drone is indirectly creating GHG emissions. The obvious way to avoid this is solar powered charging but other alternatives such as the use of hydrogen as a fuel source also offer a greener solution. In addition, without the weight of the batteries and with an ultra-light fuel cell a hydrogen powered quad set a record for a 4 hour flight.

While hydrogen itself is a clean fuel, its manufacture may not be. However, there are options for clean hydrogen production from renewable powered systems. The biggest issue is having drones that can consume it as fuel, and of course a convenient source of hydrogen to refuel the drone.

Horizon Unmanned Systems hydrogen powered Hycopter can fly unloaded for up to 4 hours.

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