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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more commonly referred to as drones, have a long history of use by military forces for combat and reconnaissance missions. However, in the mid-2000s, alternative uses started to be explored. Interest, amongst many new drones, started to soar. And not just for recreational usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drones can bring medication or other life-sustaining supplies<\/a> for critical emergency relief due to natural disasters or quickly reaching remote areas that terrain vehicles cannot. Mining, construction, and agriculture companies -amongst many other industrial segments \u2013 use drones for surveying and monitoring. If you want to learn more on how diverse their mission profiles have become, I suggest reading 38 Ways Drones Will Impact Society: From Fighting War To Forecasting Weather, UAVs Change Everything<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider the following, taken from a press release<\/a> by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deliver packages: With major corporations like Alphabet, Amazon and UPS exploring the possibilities, commercial package delivery is one of the more prominent drone use cases \u2014 and one the FAA tested in its UAS Integration Pilot Program. Delivery packages via battery-powered drone would reduce the use of fossil fuels and curtail carbon emissions. The RAND think tank estimated that nearly 47 gallons of diesel fuel could be saved by shifting 20 percent of deliveries from trucks to drones.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Can drones have such a significant impact on carbon emissions? Are there other ways they can help reduce greenhouse gases? We asked David Almer, Portfolio Development Executive at Siemens Digital Industrial Software. He recently participated in our Bring your kids to work<\/a> video series with his children Mateo and Margot. They discussed how drones are part of the solution for more sustainable transportation:<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow do drones help fight climate change?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n