China will start trials for a new smog-clearing drone later this month. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be equipped with parafoil and will be used to combat the country’s worsening air pollution, according to authorities.
Ma Yongsheng, an aviation official and delegate to the National People’s Congress (NPC) said that tests would be conducted at airports and ports later this month, to be led by the China Meteorological Administration and aviation experts, according to Xinhua.
Over the last few years, China has begun using airplanes and fixed-wing drones to spray chemicals in the air to freeze pollutants, allowing particles to fall to the ground. The new drone, developed by state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, is the nation’s first parafoil UAV and can carry up to 700 kg (1,500 lb) of smog-clearing chemicals, three times more than fixed-wing drones. It is also 90 percent less expensive to operate.
The news follows Premier Li Keqiang declaring “war on pollution” on Wednesday at the start of the annual meeting of the NPC and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing. He described smog as nature’s warning against “inefficient and blind development”, adding that the government would focus on reducing PM2.5 and PM 10 particles.
Li said the government would hit pollution at the source by targeting industrial factories and energy producers, eliminating outdated energy producers, industrial plants, cutting steel production, and shutting down small coal-fired furnaces across the country.
Last week, authorities in Beijing had to issue an orange alert for several days, with smog levels exceeding 400 micrograms per cubic metre, the first time such an alert was raised.
[Image via Wikipedia]
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