Project introduction ---

Carbon neutral drone services in southern Finland

Artikkelikuva: Project introduction

The ‘Carbon neutral drone service solutions in Southern Finland’ project piloted and promoted carbon neutral drone services. At the same time, the project was also seeking to develop new business models for the needs of various industries.

Objective

The objective of the ‘Carbon neutral drone service solutions in Southern Finland’ project was to pilot and promote carbon neutral and emissions-free drone services for the purposes of logistics, remote security, and environmental control, and develop them into new forms of business to replace combustion engine-based forms of mobility and transport.

The project involved the development of innovative drone service solutions with the help of co-creation workshops and new operating methods that put less of a strain on the environment to promote carbon neutrality and expand the use of drones for new applications, for example.

The project supported the carbon neutral goals of the Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso areas. It was also part of the drone service development project family implemented simultaneously in four areas (Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso, North Ostrobothnia, Lapland) in the form of three project entities.

Duration, partners and funding

  • Project duration: 1 September 2019–31 December 2021
  • Budget: the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council granted 789,000 euros for the project from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
  • Partners: the project partners of Forum Virium Helsinki were South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Xamk and Posintra Oy, a development company operating in Eastern Uusimaa. Xamk’s role was mainly to be an expert in logistics, drone operations and the Kymenlaakso area. Posintra implemented co-development workshops and drone flights in collaboration with Xamk, and reviewed the opportunities for a drone logistics hub, for example.

The role of Forum Virium Helsinki

The role of Forum Virium Helsinki was to coordinate and manage the project and to organise the drone pilots in its own area. Forum Virium Helsinki also operated as an active facilitator between the larger areas in the drone project family.

The main results of the project

The project organised several drone pilots to test new services for business applications. CO2 emissions and environmental impact of drones were also evaluated. It was concluded that drones are suitable for healthcare and small logistics services in particular when distances are long or targets are difficult to reach or it is necessary to help someone fast. Drones can be useful in lowering emissions especially when small items are transported. If small, electric drones can be used for the task, it helps to reduce emissions. Using drones for monitoring congestions, heat leakages or forest fires can lower emissions also indirectly.

Project benefits for Helsinki

Experiments and pilots were used to identify carbon-neutral alternatives to various transport and mobility needs and to map the requirements the drone business has in terms of urban development. It is important to have the City on board, actively promoting and directing the operations, when developing operations that breed new fields of business.

During the project, Forum Virium Helsinki piloted drone flights to survey storm damage and invasive species, transport of an AED defibrillator, and pilot use of drones in traffic monitoring and calculations, using remote control via the 5G network, to give just a few examples.

Project materials

For more information on the results, see the project’s publication pp. 29-31

Photo: Redstoneaero