China to use drones for air quality inspections

A new campaign in China will operate random checks on air quality using drones to tackle carbon emissions.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is undergoing stricter rules for a low-carbon growth path during the months of October to March and will utilise drones to complete these air quality checks.

The concentration of smog in Northern China has reached unprecedented levels in recent months and has become a health concern and there is concern that it could impact on foreign investment in the region.

Drones have already collected data of a quarter of 254 businesses that engage in illegal practices.

The worst polluters are a unit of Hebei Iron & Steel Group, China’s No. 1 steelmaker, Shanxi Huaze Aluminum & Power Co., and Inner Mongolia Yihua Chemical Co. and they focusing on efforts to cut emissions.

MEP is aiming to tackle issues of air quality in Chinese organisations in the strictest manner possible in the region and they are making random checks on companies without their knowledge as a way of catching them off guard in comparison to the regular checks where the companies are notified beforehand.

The inspections will analyse a range of environmental issues including emissions from automobiles, organisations that have not abided by the standards of MEP, company’s reaction to periods of severe smog, and the way service industries and government departments have applied environmental regulations to their policy.

According to the Ministry, companies that do not cooperate will be notified to the local government who are responsible to sanction violators and they will be ‘named and shamed’.

The Ministry have also guaranteed to ensure companies are reducing their carbon footprint by undergoing further investigation.