Scottish companies using space data to help tackle climate change
The 11 companies selected to take part in the Scotland Can Do ‘Applying Space Data to the Net Zero Economy’ research and development (R&D) challenge – run by Scottish Enterprise in partnership with the Scottish Government and The Data Lab – came together yesterday (Monday, 23 January) to share their innovative ideas after recently being selected from a competitive field of applicants.
The event, held at the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI), also included representatives from Space Scotland, AstroAgency, the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, ScotlandIS, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (part of UKRI), Satellite Applications Catapult (SAC), The Data Lab and Scottish Government plus Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International (SDI) specialists.
The R&D challenge called on companies to demonstrate innovative space-based solutions that will help a range of sectors – from agriculture to transport and the built environment – accelerate their transition to net zero. Scottish Enterprise was so impressed by the quality of applicants that the number of projects supported was increased from the planned 10 to 12 – spanning 11 companies. Each project will receive a grant of up to £30,000 and business support to help develop and test the technical and economic feasibility of their ideas. The total prize pot of £360,000 is jointly funded by Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government and The Data Lab.
Scottish Enterprise Chief Executive Adrian Gillespie said: “Finding innovative solutions to tackle climate change is an area where Scotland has the potential to make a huge impact. It’s imperative that we identify and exploit all opportunities that will accelerate our path to becoming a net zero economy.
“Bringing these 11 diverse companies together was a fantastic way to ensure greater collaboration across their projects, with experts from a range of agencies there to offer their advice and make important connections for the future.”
Scottish Government Business Minister Ivan McKee said: “Scotland’s space industry is continuing to grow and is rightly recognised as a key new market opportunity within the Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation.
“Space can also play a key role in the global fight against climate change by applying space data to find innovative ways to tackle climate change and support Scotland’s transition to net zero. The companies selected to take part in this research and development challenge have demonstrated their ambition to use space technologies to support Scotland’s move towards a green economy.”
The Data Lab Business Development Executive Darran Gardner said: “The huge growth in earth observation data from satellites, combined with AI and other technologies, provides new opportunities for industry and Scotland’s universities to help accelerate the transition to net zero using space technologies.
“The range of projects is fantastic – from using space data to create crop maps for agricultural supply chains and using satellite and sensor data to monitor peatlands, to monitoring global shipping emissions from space – and we’re looking forward to seeing the feasibility projects develop into innovative solutions with global potential.”
Among companies selected to take part is Edinburgh-based Trade in Space, which is exploring using satellite data to assess dangerous toxins in crops. Founder Robin Sampson said: “In East Africa, cancer-causing toxins have become endemic in food supply chains because of changes in local climate. Through this project we will work with local stakeholders including the World Bank to map where aflatoxin outbreaks are likely to happen, so that mitigation actions can be taken. We plan to use the techniques developed to create other early warning systems to protect climate-vulnerable agricultural supply chains that we depend on.”
Meanwhile, Stirling-based Optiseller is working on a project to help cut emissions from online shopping.
CTO Raymond Booth said: “We’re incredibly excited to see how we can use space data to complement e-commerce data. Last-mile delivery – from retailer to consumer – is among the biggest emission sources for online shopping. Taking part in the ‘Applying Space Data’ program means we can use satellite data, outside of what we would normally be able to, to see what impact this is having and explore opportunities to work with the industry to reduce unnecessary shipping, waste and unsustainable practices.”
Edinburgh-based Terrabotics proposes using satellite sensors to measure flaring and venting (the disposal of natural gas via either combustion or direct release into the atmosphere) in the North Sea. Earth Observation Scientist Sian Williams Page said: “Flaring and venting contribute to climate change and emit black carbon and other pollutants. These processes are also a waste of a valuable resource. This support from Scottish Enterprise means that we can focus dedicated time to testing the feasibility of monitoring flaring and venting in the North Sea from space, as well as speaking with operators and other stakeholders to better understand their needs.”
Full details of all 11 participating companies, alongside comments about their respective projects, can be found in Notes to Editors below.
ENDS
Contact Information
Jennifer Stevenson
Notes to editors
Contact information:
Jennifer Stevenson
Scottish Enterprise
0141 468 5779 / 07919 227 836
jennifer.stevenson@scotent.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
About Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise (SE) is Scotland’s national economic development agency and a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It supports businesses to innovate and scale to transform the Scottish economy by focusing on new market opportunities through targeted investment, innovation and internationalisation. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About The Data Lab
The Data Lab is Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI. Through hubs in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, we foster innovation through collaboration, build skills and grow talent, and champion Scotland’s data science community. Our purpose is to change lives and make Scotland a more productive economy and a sustainable society by transforming the way we use data.
https://www.thedatalab.com/
@DataLabScotland
Company overviews and quotes:
Trade in Space (Edinburgh) will explore the feasibility of using open source satellite data to assess the risk of dangerous toxins in crops, initially providing insight on maize production in East Africa and around the world, with the aim of improving affordable food security and reducing waste.
Founder Robin Sampson said: “Whilst we can literally see the devastation Climate Change causes through extreme weather, other effects are less obvious. In East Africa, cancer-causing toxins have become endemic in food supply chains because of changes in local climate. Cancers which affect internal organs are rising dramatically as a result. Through this project we will work with local stakeholders including the World Bank to map where aflatoxin outbreaks are likely to happen so that mitigation actions can be taken. We plan to use the techniques developed to create other early warning systems to protect climate-vulnerable agricultural supply chains that we depend on.”
Townrock Energy (Edinburgh & Aberdeen) will explore using satellite imaging and earth observation data to aid the commercial development of deep geothermal energy – a natural form of renewable energy that is derived from the heat contained in the rocks and fluids beneath the earth’s crust, which can be used for heating and cooling purposes, or to generate electricity.
Founder and CEO David Townsend said: “Scotland has a potentially substantial net zero energy geothermal resource, which is currently vastly underutilised. This is in part due to the lack of subsurface data, hindering deep geothermal development. This grant funding has allowed us to explore new and innovative techniques for deep geothermal resource identification. Using satellite imaging and earth observation data, we are developing and evaluating a non-intrusive exploration technique that has applications in Scotland and globally in similar geothermal resources.”
Space Intelligence (Edinburgh) is developing Annual CarbonMapper, a system for detecting changes in forest biomass on an annual basis (a greater frequency than is currently commercially available) to further support monitoring, reporting and verification of forest carbon projects. With this grant, the company will demonstrate the technological and commercial promise of their product, with the aim of delivering jobs and economic growth for Scotland through cutting edge science alongside positive climate and biodiversity impacts.
CEO, Dr Murray Collins, said: “Space Intelligence creates various mapping products to support nature-based solutions using our unique expertise at the intersection of satellite data analytics, artificial intelligence, and forest ecology. This grant is extremely timely for us as the demand for accurate data in this area is growing exponentially. We are confident this innovation will have a positive impact locally and globally, both in terms of Scottish jobs and climate change mitigation.”
D-CAT (Glasgow) has teamed up with Scotland’s Rural College (SRC) to create a digital crop map for all stakeholders across the agriculture supply chain. The classification of crops and prediction of wheat yields in near-real-time using satellite data could make a major contribution towards achieving net zero agriculture.
CEO Phil McLachlan said: “We’re delighted to be teamed with SRUC in exploring the potential to create new near-real-time data products that exploit a crop classification capability. The project will explore the alignment of D-CAT’s existing crop map of Australia and the Scottish Government’s previous crop classification work.”
Optiseller (Stirling) is working on a project to help cut emissions from online shopping. It states that one of the biggest emission sources is the final stage of the supply chain from the business to the end customer. Optiseller believes that by analysing exiting product, sales and shipping data that we already have, coupled with satellite-based tracking data, insights can be identified to help the industry become net zero.
CTO Raymond Booth said: “We’re incredibly excited to see how we can use space data to complement e-commerce data. Last-mile delivery – from retailer to consumer – is among the biggest emission sources for online shopping. Taking part in the ‘Applying Space Data’ program means we can use satellite data, outside of what we would normally be able to, to see what impact this is having and explore opportunities to work with the industry to reduce unnecessary shipping, waste and unsustainable practices.”
TRIOS Renewables (Glasgow) plans to use high-resolution ocean observation satellite data to forecast the logistics, durations, risk and cost of offshore wind farm operations, enabling them to zoom into individual turbine locations, predicting accessibility and ocean risk to a high degree of accuracy. This has a direct cost benefit in terms of improved wind farm design and operation as well as the double carbon reduction associated with increased wind production and reduced vessel emissions.
GSI (Edinburgh) will test new technology to assess the biomass of young trees as they mature – to enhance or provide satellite-based alternatives to current woodland carbon assessment practices. Their proposed solution combines satellite imagery and machine learning techniques. Currently, such calculations are made using manual field surveys, which are costly, time consuming and of varying accuracies.
CEO Peter Young said: “Our study looks to provide a huge improvement in the understanding of biomass of young trees as they mature and are forested. We are looking to replace more costly and less accurate current manual processes with automated systems based on space data and analytics.”
GSI (Edinburgh) also proposes to build on existing technology, to develop a satellite-based solution for mapping key features of peatlands in order to prioritise restoration. Innovative methods for peatland mapping will be investigated in a case study area with planned restoration activities. Scalability and repeatability will also be tested, to assess the potential of providing a Scotland-wide service to peatland managers and restorers.
CEO Peter Young said: “To achieve Scotland’s net zero goals, our Peatlands have to be better understood if they are to deliver their undoubted potential carbon storage benefits. Space data will play a key role in meeting these objectives and in supporting peatland restoration.”
Terrabotics (Edinburgh) proposes using satellite sensors to measure flaring and venting — the disposal of natural gas via either combustion or direct release into the atmosphere. Currently, these activities are tracked by oil and gas operators themselves, with the volumes of gas then reported to the regulator. Terrabotics’ proposed system, which is focused on the North Sea, would provide a second, standardised objective data source with near-real-time availability at an operational level, alongside the ground-based measurements reported to the regulator.
Earth Observation Scientist Sian Williams Page said: “Timely and objective data is crucial in the shift towards sustainable energy production and the transition to net zero. Flaring and venting contribute to climate change and emit black carbon and other pollutants. These processes are also a waste of a valuable resource. This support from Scottish Enterprise means that we can focus dedicated time to testing the feasibility of monitoring flaring and venting in the North Sea from space, as well as speaking with operators and other stakeholders to better understand their needs.”
Omanos (Glasgow) aims to improve low carbon ground data collection capabilities for peatland and forestry restoration, by expanding its existing technical prototype – the Community-Sourced Intelligence for Earth Observation (CSI-EO) service. It will adapt processes for the verification of remote sensing data (including satellite imagery) in order to support land management and restoration programmes.
Lead Data Analyst Clare Rumsey said: “Omanos Analytics is developing a formalised and streamlined methodology for fieldwork and geospatial ground data collection, optimised for delivering space-enabled capabilities to non-expert users. The solution will facilitate planning, communication and information-sharing across disciplines. This grant allows Omanos to produce and demonstrate standardised ground-truthing of peatland and new forests to support green recovery programmes across the Scottish Highlands in order to increase carbon uptake of natural assets – key to the Scottish government’s strategy for transition to a net zero economy.”
AAC Clyde Space (Glasgow) will assess the feasibility of creating a catalogue of global shipping emissions, using satellite data combined with other sources. The ultimate goal is to develop a web-based emissions monitoring data portal, to assist marine industry clients in measuring, cataloguing and enforcing regulatory and sustainability compliance.
President of Data and Services, Andrew Carrel said “Space data brings the opportunity to provide consistent, global monitoring of emissions to help ensure the maritime sector meets International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements for cleaner shipping. This programme is an exciting opportunity to expand our ‘space data as a service’ capability and collaborate across the Scottish space industry on climate challenge.”
Carbon 360 (Edinburgh) aims to uncover the strengths and weaknesses of satellite based IoT technologies to monitor peatlands, creating an intuitive dashboard for measuring carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) baselines and changes. The project will use AI and data analytics to identify data such as water levels, temperature, dissolved oxygen, GHG and weather patterns, which can also help predict changes and ensure necessary action is taken.
CEO Peter Johnson said: “Peatlands are a key part of the Scottish landscape, as well as our cultural and natural heritage. They are an internationally important habitat and a hugely important carbon store. Scotland's peat soils cover more than 20% of the country and store around 1,600m tonnes of carbon. Scotland’s transition to net zero must also take into consideration and protect the immense amounts of stored carbon and greenhouse gases within natural assets. This important funding will greatly assist in the verification of Carbon360’s products and services within this exceptionally important global natural asset carbon monitoring.”