AN INTELLIGENT sustainability management system (ISMS) could soon be helping companies to achieve sustainability and biodiversity goals.
California-based provider of satellite and AI-powered operations, AiDash, announced the development at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow. Its ISMS solution would enable customers — including energy company National Grid — to meet proposed 10 percent biodiversity net-gain standards and allow digital operation of land surveys that are currently performed manually.
AiDash has developed the ISMS over the past nine months, working with the National Grid Partners Innovation team.
The UK’s Environment Bill will mandate a 10 percent net gain in biodiversity for all new developments, and raise the imperative of land sustainability.
Organisations with large landholdings, such as energy, water, and wastewater companies, use on-the-ground surveying methods to map land types and measure biodiversity levels. The cost and process complexities of using these methods can hinder the implementation of natural capital enhancement plans, says Abhishek Singh, co-founder and CEO of AiDash.
“Existing tools and techniques lack the ability to analyse historical data and make data-driven environmental improvements,” he said. “Our new platform allows organisations to achieve resource efficiency and implement (the UN’s) Sustainable Development Goals.”
In a recent survey by SAP and Oxford Economics, utility and energy executives said increased process complexity is a hindrance to meeting sustainability goals.
The ISMS Land module will reduce laborious fieldwork through the AI-backed image-analysis for systematic mapping, planning and assessing land enhancements. Greenhouse gas emissions across sources such as well pads and gas pipelines would be measured through the ISMS Air module.
“It’s a crucial step in helping us to achieve our regulatory obligations and make our contribution towards the biodiversity crisis and climate change,” said Prem Gabbi, head of National Grid Property.
AiDash’s satellite-powered ISMS could enable environmental surveys and audits without manual fieldwork. “We could efficiently leverage repeatable and transparent satellite data to design optimal strategies,” Gabbi said. This could enhance biodiversity across some 3500 hectares of non-operational National Grid land in the UK, the company says.
