China and Drones...A mixed bag for use.

I came across this story and stopped a moment to read it. It's really pretty interesting and I have to say, it's a use for drones I can't really argue. Why risk people in even the occasional routine statistical accidents when drones can hunt things like polluters day and night, without giving indications for operations to change and hide the offenses?

China is using drones to spy on polluting industries in its attempts to battle the lung-choking smog that frequently engulfs many of its cities.

The deputy minister of environmental protection, Zhai Qing said drones have recently been used in Beijing, Shanxi and Hebei provinces to inspect for pollution. These are some of the worst affected areas of China, with a high number of coal-fired power stations, steel mills and cement plants.

That sounds outstanding. I wouldn't mind seeing it used here for things like the giant "solid waste" lagoons of the industrial hog farms and those which have violations (that are often enormous, when they happen). Perhaps running up and down creeks and rivers at random to look for off color out-flows. I can see all kinds of very positive ways they could be used for things like this and it's really a badly needed capability with how many ways our environment (global climate entirely aside) is being polluted to the point of lethally toxic.

If only we could trust in seeing such single-purpose use of the technology.

Take....China in this example, for instance. We can probably all agree how great this all was...right up to this point.

Meanwhile, the environment ministry has also been testing the possibility of using drones to spray chemicals into the air to disperse smog during times of high air pollution.

Source

(facepalm) Oh.. China...I was right with ya to the last part there, too!

As the title said, a mixed bag for China and their new exploration of using drones for entirely new things.

Wrabbit2000
Take....China in this example, for instance. We can probably all agree how great this all was...right up to this point.

Meanwhile, the environment ministry has also been testing the possibility of using drones to spray chemicals into the air to disperse smog during times of high air pollution.

Source

(facepalm) Oh.. China...I was right with ya to the last part there, too!

As the title said, a mixed bag for China and their new exploration of using drones for entirely new things.

Hey friend,

Very good point. The most things governments can do whilst in the shadows, the more they will just do. Anonymity and impunity walks hand in hand I reckon. If they had to use prop planes or helicopters things would be different, people won't complain about what they can't see... and the ones who does, will be called conspiracy theorists, at least.

Cheers,

reply to post by Speotyto


That's the problem, I think. A use like spotting pollution without scheduled inspections facilities can plan for, would lead into looking over the city on the way 'while they're over there anyway', and if they 'just happen' to spot something else 'anyway...' well, golly, what a happy coincidence for search warrants or even code violations and illegal sheds. They're using really trashy methods for the silliest things, along side the important things.

Yeah, the world could be made a much better place, without some absurd 'Utopian' efforts, if we could just trust how things would be used.