A pipeline cutting through a mountain pass.

Sustainability at DroneDeploy

Enabling climate action with Reality Capture

We believe businesses have a responsibility to create a sustainable future. DroneDeploy is motivated by the countless environmental benefits of drone and robotic capture technology. Drones and robotics are replacing heavy machinery, costly airplanes and countless car trips with automated data collection.

DroneDeploy works with industries to harness these benefits, helping customers to decarbonize and increase efficiency. For example, reality capture tech in construction reduces site visits and rework, while in clean energy, it speeds up solar project delivery. In oil and gas, drone data is used for environmental planning and mitigation, and in agriculture, digital twins enable smarter pesticide applications and less heavy equipment use.


Energy saved from digital collaboration with DroneDeploy

DroneDeploy's cloud-based platform significantly reduces the environmental impact of operations. Virtualization using hosts such as AWS services saves energy by using 77% fewer servers for intensive computing processes like photogrammetry, resulting in an 84% power reduction and an 88% cut in carbon emissions.

Drones and robots often replace heavy equipment and reduce work travel by providing remote visibility of site conditions. Business travel accounts for over 80% of business emissions, making it one of the largest contributors to corporate carbon emissions. In 2022, our platform helped avoid 29k tons of CO2 emissions. That’s equivalent to taking 6,304 cars off the road for a year!

In 2022, our platform helped avoid 29k tons of CO2 emissions. That’s equivalent to taking 6304 cars off the road for a year!

A man at work at his computer.

Enabling Clean Energy Adoption

The demand for renewable energy is rising globally. Project siting, development and maintenance are all areas where automation is needed. Organizations are using drone data to improve site assessments with accurate and standardized surveys – often reducing inspection costs by up to 400%. Ground robots are being used to scan barcodes on solar panels, saving months of time. With cost savings and efficiency enabled by DroneDeploy, the world can more rapidly transition towards renewable energy sources.

An aerial view of some bodies of water.

From aerial data, organizations are improving site assessments with accurate and standardized surveys. With added cost savings and efficiency, we can more rapidly transition towards renewable energy sources.

Reducing Rework and Revisits in Construction

Rework is both a business problem and an environmental one. Inaccurate data slows down projects and can lead to countless revisits.  In fact, it’s estimated that 48% of all rework is caused by poor project data and poor communication.  In addition, as much as 30% of all building materials delivered to a typical construction site end up as waste.. By having better digital collaboration and site documentation in DroneDeploy, issues are caught sooner and waste is avoided.

From aerial data, organizations are improving site assessments with accurate and standardized surveys. With added cost savings and efficiency, we can more rapidly transition towards renewable energy sources.

An aerial view of some waste and destruction.

Encouraging precision agriculture and carbon farming

Our crops and farmland currently contribute 11% of our global emissions. Much of this comes from the use of heavy farming equipment and low quality soil. Pesticides are also a source of emissions, as the process of creating these chemicals is far from sustainable. One benefit of better data is more accurate targeting of unhealthy crops.. Instead of spraying an entire field, agronomists can now target specific areas and reduce their overall use of pesticides.

A person holding a drone controller in a green field.

Instead of spraying an entire field, agronomists can now target unhealthy crops and reduce overall pesticide applications.

Nonprofits Driving Conservation

Current estimates put species loss at between 10,000 and 100,000 each year. Much of this reduction in biodiversity is driven by habitat loss and degradation. Through DroneDeploy.org, we support nonprofit organizations working to protect and restore our ecosystems for the benefit of future generations. We support organizations like The Nature Conservancy, WWF and UNDP in our efforts to build a sustainable future. Using DroneDeploy’s software, organizations like these are protecting coral reefs, planting new forests and building sustainable infrastructure.

Organizations like The Nature Conservancy, WWF and UNDP use DroneDeploy to protect coral reefs, plant new forests and build sustainable infrastructure.

Elephants wading across water.
At DroneDeploy, our customers are our biggest assets – they’re constantly innovating and using reality capture technology to build and shape our future. We’re proud to see the impact that organizations are having on our planet through the utilization of reality capture technology. We will continue to support their work towards a more sustainable world.
- Gayatri Shahane, Data Scientist