SMART Solutions
drone by drone
Local governments are adopting drones as a genuine means to prevent environmental misdemeanour within their industries. Drone technologies have seen a steady increase in popularity over the last year, with mounted cameras providing panoramic footage of large-scale events and festivals.
However, privacy issues associated with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have provoked controversy in many western countries. So much so, that in the United States, an entire agency is devoted to education the population on how to avoid a drone-related law suit.
In China, however, such technologies are being used for exactly such a purpose, to invade and survey the private actions of large, polluting firms.
In Foshan, a city of over 7 million people, 40,000 sources of industrial pollution and almost 1000 industrial parks, monitoring and enforcing environmental protection laws is a difficult process.
For over seven years, the city has been anxiously cleaning up its industries, following mass discontent amongst the populace.
In the face of ever-progressing environmental protection standards, polluting firms and factories have become increasingly devious about hiding their industrial transgressions. To counteract such non-compliance, Chinese local governments are developing innovative solutions to increase transparency - and not in a political sense.
Under the banner of city upgrading projects, local and district governments have implemented a series of reforms prohibiting the continuation of polluting industrial methods. The ceramics industry, for example, has long been a pillar industry for the city, with a South-East Asia trade history spanning back millennia. In light of air quality concerns, the city relocated or completely closed hundreds of ceramics factories in the city centre, forcing those remaining manufacturers to update their industrial processes to produce more cleanly. Similarly, in one district, a ‘Negative List’ was produced, detailing projects and production methods prohibited on account of their detrimental environmental impact.
As restrictions tightened, however, the newly-illicit behaviours simply sank underground, making detection increasingly difficult. When law enforcement officials would arrive on site, evidence of any environmental misconduct would have already been hidden.
Environmental Protection Goes Drone
April 7, 2015
When law enforcement officials enter a plant, often illegal behaviours are stopped, making it hard to collect evidence.
Peng Cong’en, Bureau of Environmental Protection of Foshan City (2015)
Despite owning and installing many environmental technologies to prevent the emission of polluted air, many companies would simply leave the machines idle until a visiting official arrives. With drone cameras at the local government’s disposal, polluters will no longer be able to conceal their actions so easily. In the case of Foshan, the drones will be used to provide video evidence and to record the law enforcement process itself. In other regions, drones are being used to patrol rivers, preventing factories from pumping waste water into public waterways.
The stupid thing is that Chinese factories have this technology, which is very expensive to install in the first place; but to keep costs low, they don’t switch the machines on. Unless, of course, the government comes to check.
German Site Manager, Automobile Industry (2014)
Though it seems a slightly far-fetched approach to industrial surveillance, many cities across China are using drones to keep potential polluters under observation. From Zhejiang to Jilin, local governments are experimenting with new techniques through which to keep their vast multitude of industrial polluters on the straight and narrow.
UAVs bring a new trend to environmental protection. A new system, which could monitor the types, density and diffusion process of pollutants… will be put into use soon.
Wang Qiao, Satellite Environment Center (2015)
At the forefront of drone development, China’s innovations could define the industry. As popularity grows, new technologies for using drones for specifically environmental purposes are being tested, counterbalancing concerns that governments will use such technology to infringe on the privacy of individual citizens. Companies such as Shenzhen’s DJI are influencing industries across the spectrum, particularly in areas such as conservation and energy infrastructure. Furthermore, DJI have installed software to protect sensitive geographic zones, such as airports and political offices, so that their drones are unable to fly there.
We put the GPS locations of sensitive locations like airports — and now D.C. — into the flight controllers so that the platforms will sense when it is close to one of these no-fly zones and won't enter the space. We are working with the regulators, finding out where we can't fly, and simply closing that off with software.
Michael Perry, DJI Spokesman (2015)
China’s current preoccupation with its natural environment has initiated a wave of ecologically inspired technology. The use of drones is environmental protection is just ones step in an entire series of slightly outlandish developments that could truly redefine the environmental technology industry.
Image credit: dronezine.it
Written by Abbey Heffer
