Climate Protection: Drone-based methane gas detection

Methane (CH₄) is the second biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide (CO₂). By adopting the EU Methane Regulation in May the European Union has now declared war on the avoidable release of this gas. From January 2027 pipeline operators will have to prove their compliance with strict limit values by highly precise measurements. A joint initiative by drone manufacturer Beagle Systems and sensor developer AIRMO shows how to do this efficiently and reliably.

For a long time now it has been standard for energy suppliers to regularly check their grids to detect any potential damage in good time or ideally prevent it before it happens. Where so far helicopters were used as a rule, more and more drones are now being deployed instead. In view of the new EU Methane Regulation, which requires pipeline operators to regularly check their pipelines for leakages in future so as to detect even smallest CH₄ emissions, uncrewed systems could be the means of choice from the outset. This is at least the aim of the Hamburg-based company Beagle Systems, which also performs pipeline inspections successfully with its drones. This is why the producer wants to extend its ranges to include detection of methane leakages in future. To this end, they look to LiDAR-based sensor technology by AIRMO. This Munich-based company offers satellite-assisted emission detection; as part of a cooperation with Beagle Systems this technology will in future also be used as UAS payload thereby creating another use case for modern drone technology that is of societal relevance.             

> This feature was written in cooperation with Drones, the magazine for the drone economy. www.drones-magazin.de