Falcon Eye Drones Launched ‘Drones For Sustainability’ Practice In The Middle East

Falcon Eye Drones, Dubai based drone-powered solutions company, introduced a sustainability practice to the portfolio of its wide range services in the Middle East. Drones for Sustainability vertical is designed to address the growing importance of sustainable business and industry practices across construction, oil and gas, agriculture, mapping, surveying, utilities, energy, and many other highly regulated sectors. Within the framework of the new practice Falcon Eye Drones will be sustainability proofing their upcoming developments by evaluating the amount of carbon footprint that will be avoided by utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to service a project; increasing its participation and contribution towards regional discussions at industry events and trade shows; and further contributing towards the education of relevant industry professionals and experts via co-hosted and independently organized events and training activities.

“While we are fully aware of drones’ impact on the time and cost efficiency of any project we encounter, sustainability of these ventures is an added value that industry players don’t fully recognize yet. Sustainability and renewable energy practices are some of the top priorities amongst the GCC and wider Middle Eastern governments and are explicitly reflected in their vision statements. By launching our Drones for Sustainability vertical, we are helping our customers to be much more sustainable, industry professionals to learn about ‘cleaner’ practices and our peers to continue their sustainable journeys while supporting further growth and progression of our flourishing region”, said Rabih Bou Rashid, Managing Director of Falcon Eye Drones.

Drones for Sustainability vertical was inspired by the increasing role UAVs play across many industries that lean towards clean energy practices. New practice was also boosted by the regional market sentiment on renewable energy and sustainability. The Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) renewable energy market is currently dominated by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where power requirements will grow by 6.4% each year until 2022. According to the World Future Energy Summit statement, the Middle East is expected to more than triple its share of renewable energy from 5.6% in 2016 to 20.6% in 2035, with solar making up the lion’s share of this figure. To successfully achieve this target, an estimated USD 30-40 billion of capital will need to be invested in future projects across the region.

Introduction of UAVs to develop solar energy plants in the Middle East is one of the breakthroughs that demonstrates the importance of drone technologies within this sector. During the construction of any solar plant, each zone has its own pace, and various activities such as groundwork preparation, topographic survey, construction, screw, and panels installation that are happening simultaneously. With the addition of a fully automated ground screw installation methodology, the construction speed increases tremendously.

To increase the time efficiency during any the solar plant construction project, fully automated ground screw installation solution can make a tremendous impact. A fully integrated software, cloud, and hardware solutions can save the solar installation time by 10-30%. Such solutions use computer-aided design to plan the location and the depth of the screw, and then use the fully automated real-time kinematic (RTK) guided machinery to install the ground screw.

Another great example of the sustainable impact of drone applications is observed in the agriculture sector. According to Statista, the market size for drones in smart agriculture will reach 2.9 billion U.S. dollars by 2021 globally. The contribution of the agricultural sector to the overall economy varies significantly among countries in the Middle East, ranging from about 3.2 percent in Saudi Arabia to 13.4 percent in Egypt. Drone technology makes a huge contribution to the agriculture industry through planning and strategy based on real-time data gathering and processing, mainly considering water supply challenges that are common across the region, especially in the GCC countries. Drones can contribute towards the sustainability of the agricultural sector by taking on such tasks as soil and field analysis, planting, crop spraying, crop monitoring, irrigation, health assessment and many more.

“We believe that the important part of the drone technology implementation lies in the awareness amongst various industry professionals. This awareness can only be achieved through continuous educational efforts carried by the regional governments and private sector entities via industry events, legislation, various campaigns and educational programs introduced across schools and universities”, added Rabih.

Falcon Eye Drones regularly participates in the major industry events, such as Big 5 Solar, where the company discusses the importance of UAVs for sustainability and renewable energy. FEDs have also taken on an active role of co-organizer of the Drones Synergies summit that takes place in Dubai on the annual basis and is designed to educate and guide regional stakeholders on the importance of the drone technology across multiple sectors. In this year’s edition, Drones Synergies will feature more than sixteen one-day training programs focusing on various aspects and synergies of drones. Agriculture for Tomorrow and Drones, Drones for Renewable Energy Assessment and Management and Drones for Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability are among the scheduled training and part of the professional program of the conference. Part of the Academic program for Drones Synergies Conference, various researchers and scientists are invited to share their latest research findings on various topics involving drones and sustainability is amongst topics to be addressed.  A plenary session with renowned keynote speaker will also highlight the synergies drones create for sustainability in the region.  During the outreach and edutainment components of the conference, a drone show is planned to illustrate the potential of drones to create entertainment in the sky. Drones show is more interesting offering day and night indoor and outdoor shows with the same drones’ swarm but with various and unlimited possibilities with no negative impact on sustainability when compared to fireworks.