Cleantech Fire Solutions
Fire. It’s humanity’s oldest problem and unfortunately, we have yet to develop a viable solution to quell its devastation. It’s such a universal problem that we’re taught to yell “FIRE” in any given emergency to get people’s attention.
With warmer temperatures and drier climates, fire seasons have been growing longer and more destructive. We need innovative clean technologies as we adapt to this new normal.
Global Fire Alarm
All corners of the world have experienced immense loss from wildfires in the past year:
- 2019–2020 Australian wildfires scorched 46 million acres and affected 3 billion animals.
- More than 80,000 fires set the world’s lungs aflame in the Amazon rainforest in 2019.
- 5 of the largest wildfires in California history have occurred in 2020, forcing over 64,000 people to evacuate.
Much of the technology used to fight wildfires today has been developed for aerial strategies. Global SuperTanker airplanes carry water and flame-retarding chemicals to douse fires from above.
Drones are another tool used to gain intelligence about the movement of fires. Often equipped with infrared sensors and thermal imaging cameras, drones can operate in low-visibility air obscured by clouds of smoke. Firefighters can use the heat maps created by drones to detect smaller spot-fires and prevent those from spreading further.
In the future, legions of autonomous drones may fly together to map out the wildfires and some can even be fitted with hoses.
Additionally, NASA and NOAA satellites help provide data and analytics to track wildfires and make informed decisions to contain them.
Cleantech Fire Solutions
A few companies are developing completely new technologies to both prevent and combat wildfires.
Ladera Tech , a startup formed by Stanford University researchers, has created a gel that can proactively be sprayed on trees, plants, and other vegetation by plane or helicopter to blanket mass wildfire-prone areas.
Unlike fire retardants currently used to combat wildfires, Ladera Tech’s gel made from plant fiber cellulose won’t wash away by rain. It can stick to the trees throughout a full wildfire season then naturally degrade without causing damage to the forest.
To better battle fires, Howe and Howe Technologies has developed fire fighting robots known as Thermite RS1 and RS3. Thermite sets the foundation for what can vastly improve our ability to fight wildfires without putting men and women in harm’s way. Imagine a future with each city and community equipped with Thermite robots to address fires immediately and effectively.
As mentioned, drones have the potential to play a bigger role in quelling wildfires. California firefighting agencies have used Reaper drones developed by General Atomics to gain rapid information about spreading fires to make better strategic firefighting decisions. In the future, building off Google’s stratospheric balloon Project Loon , drones that can fly all day and all night will provide even more real-time data to inform firefighters.
The cleantech innovation is helping us fight the good fight, but we need more investment and public policy to support innovation for firefighting solutions. Folks who want to help in the field of climate tech should look no further than the immediate and widespread issue of fires.
Originally published at https://cleantechrising.com on October 12, 2020.
